


A Culinary Expedition

by Rhymefire



Series: A Sailor's Life For Me [1]
Category: Sunless Sea
Genre: Cooking, Epistolary, Family, Funny, Other, journal format, recipes!, sea monster captain and child, why do you eat these things?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-10-10
Packaged: 2019-06-22 21:23:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 26,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15591006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rhymefire/pseuds/Rhymefire
Summary: Hettie has always wanted to join a ship, so she offers her services to the sea captains as a cook. The captain is ecstatic to have her aboard and once Hettie sees the supplies she has to turn into edible food she can see why. Is it too late to turn back? Can Hettie rise to the challenge of getting a boat full of sailors to happily eat hardtack? Can she convince the captain to stop trying to get them to eat sea monsters? Most importantly, can she get spices?





	1. Joining The Crew

This journal is the property of Hettie. DO NOT TOUCH. THAT MEANS YOU, DAD!!!

May 12, 1888

I've finally been accepted as a sailor on a ship! I'm going to be their cook. The captain is named Erik and wears a mask over their face. They're very persuasive! I'm a pretty petite girl, right? That's probably why a lot of the sea-captains haven't taken me on their ship. They said I wouldn't last long, and that's when they wanted to talk to me. Erik grinned (the mask only covers the top half of their face), sauntered up to me and offered me a drink. Then they started talking about their amazing ship and all the places they've seen. They've been to Venderbight!!! How cool is that? Erik said I could join their crew as a cook! I'm going to be a sailor! A cook sailor! And to think I almost didn't go to the docks today! I would have missed out on what's going to be the best adventure of my life.

I'm still having trouble believing that they told me their name! Their use-name is the Distant Captain, but I think of them as Erik. It's nice knowing someone else's name. I lost my use-name a while back, which is probably why I've been having so much trouble finding a ship. 

 

May 14, 1888

My kitchen is kind of small, but that's okay. It's got lots of storage space. Well if this is how all our days are going to be, I'm a bit nervous! We got to Venderbight today and Captain Erik let us all out to explore a bit. What a nice creature they are! The captain vanished for a bit and came back in a foul mood. I've always felt that food will improve any mood so I suggested a picnic. At first the captain looked at me like I was crazy, but then they shrugged and gathered the crew up. The picnic started off okay but took a turn for the worst when one of the sailors was swarmed by spiders. They ate his eyes out! Oddly enough, this cheered the captain right up. They beat most of the spiders away from the corpse and started whistling a bit so I guess they just needed to hit something to feel better. I was terrified that Erik would kick me off, but they just shrugged and said, "These things happen." We left Venderbight after that.

We shot down some sea-bats. Captain sent them down to me for rations, but I'm not sure if I can convince the crew to eat them! There's a lot of little bones and gristle. Not to mention that Captain Erik keeps an adorable little sea-bat aboard. I've named her Princess. She roosts in the kitchen with me because I let her sniff the ingredients.

 

May 15, 1888

Served sea-bat stuffed mushrooms. We reached Whither today. It's really cold.

Sea-Bat Stuffed Mushrooms Served With Hardtack  
Ingredients:  
\- a bundle of sea-bats, skinned, deboned and chopped into 1 inch cubes  
\- 20 large dried mushrooms, reconstituted. Separate and mince stems.  
\- 1 onion, chopped  
\- 4 cloves garlic, minced  
\- 1/2 cup grated cheese  
\- 1 tsp oil

Directions:  
\- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil. Fry garlic until honey brown.  
\- Add sea-bat and fry until caramelized.  
\- Add mushroom stems and onion to pan and cook until soft.   
\- Stuff mushroom caps with meat mixture and bake in oven until cooked through.  
\- Top with cheese and serve with hardtack.

Notes:  
\- Princess doesn't like to smell sea-bat meat when it's cooking, but letting her lick the pan clean mollifies her. I'm not sure why.  
\- Sea-bats are a bit gamey. Is there anything I can do to get rid of that? I don't mind, but a lot of people don't like gamey meats.

 

May 17, 1888

We reached Codex today! It's incredible. I heard rumours of an island of monkeys, but I never thought it could be true. There are a bunch of mutes living here as well, but the whole crew agrees that the monkeys are the most interesting. They speak entirely in gestures and I got to watch Captain Erik try to mime out a conversation. I don't think it turned out well. They spent a lot of time frowning and scribbling notes down. I can't remember if they did that at Venderbight as well. Does the captain keep a diary? Well if they do, the secret is safe with me!

 

May 18, 1888

Just as I was about to serve dinner, a group of sailors and the captain burst into my kitchen. They were dragging the most enormous crab I've ever seen! It was as big as a table! The captain called it an auroral megalops and said I was to serve it to the crew on the double. I was pretty confused, but Erik had this manic grin that I didn't want to argue with. When I made the first cut with my cleaver, I was shocked to discover that the meat glowed! It threw sparks and everything. The captain bounced on their toes and held a plate out. I served the captain first.

Auroral Megalops Served In The Shell  
Ingredients:  
\- 1 auroral megalops, killed within the last minute

Directions:  
\- With the butt of an axe or cleaver, break the shell open. Do this in sections to preserve freshness of meat. Save shell fragments.  
\- With a cleaver cut out the glowing, pale, salty meat and serve it on the shell fragments.

Notes:  
\- Work as fast as possible! The meat dulls and crisps when it is exposed to air. Crispy, dull meat will make you sick. I saved a scrap aside to test this. It's also really gross when it crisps. Not even Princess will eat crisped megalops meat.  
\- When carving, avoid anything that isn't glowing. These are organs and although stable, they will make you sick and Captain Erik forbid me to serve them UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

 

May 19, 1888

More sea-bat meat. Although we have more dried mushrooms I wanted to try something a little different. Also, some stupid little beetle has invaded the hardtack! It's so frustrating, but I guess it's just extra protein for the crew since there's nothing I can do about it.

Braised Sea-Bat  
Ingredients:  
\- a bundle of whole sea-bats, plump with blood  
\- 1/2 cup salt herring  
\- 1 onion, thinly sliced  
\- 1 tsp oil

Directions:  
\- Heat oil. Fry onion until caramelized.  
\- Add salt herring and fry until brown.  
\- Add sea-bats to pan. Cover and cook on low for 5 minutes until the sea-bats release their juices in a rich, blood-red sauce.  
\- Remove lid and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes until sea-bat is tender.  
\- Serve with hardtack to mop up the sauce.

Notes:  
\- I did it! You just need to salt the sea-bat (a perfect use for salt herring) and it gets rid of the gameyness. The crew really liked it. They don't even mind the hardtack since you can soften it in the sauce.

 

May 20, 1888

On our way back to Fallen London, we stopped by Hunter's Keep. The captain slipped out alone to survey the island. When Erik came back, they clapped their hands sharply and told us to dress our best. Our best isn't awesome, but the sailors and I look less ragged than earlier. There are three sisters living at Hunter's Keep and we had lunch with the oldest, Cynthia. I tried to swap recipes with the maid, but she just hissed at me. Cynthia told us a blood-curdling story that put the crew on edge, but she also gave us a bunch of pork chops so she's okay in my book! She even let us take some of the chops back to the ship. Tomorrow, I think I'll braise them with dried mushrooms and salt herring. Yum.

Once we arrived at London, a bunch of suspicious looking men gave us a bunch of fuel and supplies. That was nice of them! The three sisters also don't have use-names! I am determined to befriend them. Maybe not many people at sea have use-names? The sailors all do. I wonder if the sisters lost their use-names too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, not all of these recipes can be done in real life (if only). I've been careful to simplify the recipes so they lack detail. This is a fanfic, not a cookbook. Substitute the sea-bats for another meat and you can easily recreate the stuffed mushrooms, though.


	2. Recruitment Week

May 20, 1888

Caught another auroral megalops today. Since the crew had eaten recently and no one was hungry, Captain Erik had me help them dissect it. I don't know if I was actually helpful, but Erik seemed to appreciate my advice. I don't know where they got the acid, but it was useful in melting some of the harder pieces of shell. Erik was fascinated by the eyes. I have to admit, when you're not in a hurry to feed a bunch of crew, you can appreciate the beautiful golden glow of the flesh. Erik said that it was an adolescent, but I have a hard time believing that because it's so big.

 

May 22, 1888

We're going south, I think. It's always hard to plot a course in the constantly changing untersea. Luckily our captain is good with directions. Some glowing creatures are playing in our wake. I thought they were dolphins at first, but they don't have eyes. I don't think dolphins glow anyways. I wonder how they would taste. We stopped by Iron Republic and picked up a gunner called Irrepressible Cannoneer. I don't know if that's actually his name. Captain Erik was a bit moody after signing him up and sulked with Princess in the kitchen for a bit grumbling about how cheerful he was. I think Erik is just grumpy because the Cannoneer said that the ship had 'room for improvement.' I think the captain was a bit embarrassed that I'd seen them sulking because a stinky, yellow cat has found its way onto the ship. I named him Mog (the crew add on 'wretched' because they say he's mean, but I think he's the sweetest thing ever). He's a great ratter! I don't think I'll have trouble with mice anymore. I've always loved cats!

 

May 24, 1888

We stopped by the Grand Geode in the south. Captain Erik hated the place, but they did pick up a first officer called Carnelian Exile. I like her. She's soft spoken and a bit spooky, but she also thinks Mog is a darling. Although the people at Grand Geode were nice, their ships still shot at us. Heading back to Fallen London because we're almost at half crew.

 

May 27, 1888

A jillyfleur attacked us. Now the ship is a bit leaky and a strange lump of some sort is taking up room in the hold. It smells bad. Mog won't go near it. Erik is pleased though.

 

May 30, 1888

Finally back home in London! I visited Dad and he's doing well, but he misses me. He wants me to come home, but I'm enjoying myself too much at sea. Even though it's dangerous. And kinda scary. A crate of brilliant souls has been hidden away in our cargo hold. Through my own observation, I've learned that Captain Erik submits reports to the Admiralty. They must be dabbling in smuggling as well, since the crate of souls doesn't have an inspector's stamp. Also picked up more sailors and an engineer called Maybe's Daughter. Nobody has normal names at sea.


	3. Smuggling Brilliant Souls

May 30, 1888

We're going north this time! Before we left London I picked up some rice and seasoning. I also got some canned tomatoes to liven things up around here and some lemons to help combat scurvy. I think we're off to deliver the smuggled souls. I can't wait to get them off the ship. It makes me uneasy. None of the crew knows about it. The captain doesn't know that I know. I hope they don't find out. Captain Erik asked me to prepare the strange lump we got from the jillyfleur for their dinner with our new engineer. I told them I wasn't sure if it was safe to eat, but they just smiled.

Maybe's Daughter's Mystery Fish

Ingredients:  
\- 1 strange catch, cut into fillets  
\- 4 large dried mushrooms, reconstituted  
\- 2 tbsp dill, chopped  
\- 1/2 cup salt herring  
\- juice of 1 lemon

Directions:  
\- Fry strange catch until it is cooked. Set aside.  
\- Fry salt herring until light brown. Add mushrooms and cover for five minutes.  
\- Bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes with dill and lemon juice.  
\- Spoon sauce over the strange fillets. Serve with hopes and prayers.

Notes:  
\- Please let this be edible. Please let this be edible. Please let this be edible.  
\- The strange catch is dark red and doesn't change colour when cooked. Had to cut it open to make sure it was fully cooked. Not sure if it's edible, but it'll hopefully be tastier cooked.

 

June 3, 1888

We spent the last three days killing a giant western angler crab. The crew is glad it's all over and so am I. Our gunnery officer wishes there were more giant crabs to fight. Apparently these guys are the grown up version of the auroral megalops. You learn something new every day. I don't want to tussle with these guys all the time, but I like that the flesh is stable so it can be stored. Is it less salty? The captain had me slice open a strange mass we found inside the crab. Crab eggs. So many crab eggs. Erik said to call them sea eggs and serve them to the crew anyways. I guess I should be happy to have more supplies. It's no different than caviar. Really big caviar.

Tomato Crab Rice

Ingredients:  
\- legs of 1 giant western angler crab  
\- 2 cans of diced tomatoes  
\- 4 cups rice, soaked for 1 hour to soften it  
\- 2 tbsp secret seasoning  
\- 1 onion, thinly sliced  
\- 1 tsp oil

Directions:  
\- Roast crab legs in the oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees to cook them. Crack open and remove the meat. Cut out any mutations and shred meat with a fork.  
\- Heat oil. Caramelize the onion.  
\- Add crab, rice, diced tomatoes and seasoning to pan. Cook uncovered until potholes appear in rice, it's fully cooked and delicious.  


Notes:  
\- The crab is not less salty, so tomato helps with that.  
\- I don't know why, but western angler crab meat is prone to mutations like scales and things hidden inside the meat. Should I ask the captain about this? They know an awful lot about this sort of thing.  
\- You'll never get my secret seasoning recipe! NEVER!

 

June 4, 1888

Killed a jillyfleur today. Wonder if Captain Erik just hates sea monsters. We managed to scoop it up before it dissolved. It's sitting in a barrel like melted moonlight. I can't wait to make it into soup!

Moon Soup

Ingredients:  
\- 1 melted jillyfleur  
\- a pinch of salt 

Directions:  
\- Put melted jillyfleur into bowls and serve. 

Notes:  
\- It tastes like cream of mushroom soup!!!! Delicious! And so easy!

 

June 5, 1888

Scrambled and served the sea eggs today. The crew was suspicious about eggs for dinner until Captain Erik announced that anyone who wouldn't eat it would be wasting supplies and that people who wasted supplies were tossed overboard. I think they enjoyed yelling at the crew. The crew ate the sea eggs quickly and tripped over themselves complimenting me. They've never liked a dish more. I thanked the captain after the crew had left. They gave me an odd smile and said nothing.

 

June 6, 1888

We stopped at the Chapel of Lights today. Sort of creepy, but we stayed for dinner. Delicious! Since I'm the cook, they let me into the storeroom to use whatever I wanted! How nice is that? Captain Erik came with me to the storeroom and watched me carefully. Shark steak, cavern-tuna, angler crab, mayonnaise and tomatoes, they had it all. I wanted to use some of their kidney, but Erik's nose flared and they slapped my hand away. One of the priests scowled at them and the two glared at each other. The priest left. I must have looked a bit hurt because Erik ordered me to take some spices instead. I think that was their way of apologizing. I made grilled shark steak, cavern-tuna sashimi and crimson cakes for the crew. The tomatoes must have been straight from the surface (I don't know how), so I just sliced and salted them. Nothing I can do to improve such fresh tomatoes.

The Chapel's Crimson Cakes

Ingredients:  
\- 24 oz angler crab meat  
\- 2 sea eggs  
\- 4 tsp lemon juice  
\- 6 tbsp mayonnaise  
\- 1 cup crumbled hardtack (would have preferred breadcrumbs but they didn't have any)  
\- 2 tbsp cinnamon  
\- 4 tbsp poppy seeds 

Directions:  
\- Mix everything together except for poppy seeds.  
\- Form mixture into patties and fry until golden on both sides.  
\- Serve sprinkled with poppy seeds.

Notes:   
\- Called 'crimson' because the matured angler crab has red flesh instead of the adolescent's white.

 

June 8, 1888

Something odd happened today. Captain Erik cracked a tooth on a chunk of grit in the ship's hardtack (Thank Stone I didn't bake the hardtack!). It turned out to be a diamond. The crew begged the captain to throw it overboard to appease Stone, myself included. They rolled their eyes and did so. I spent an hour praying afterwards.

 

June 9, 1888

We finally made it to Mt. Palmerston and got rid of the smuggled souls. I feel so much better now. It put the captain in a good mood too. They'd been kind of grumpy since they threw the diamond overboard. The captain had us exploring the ruins a bit and we found some zzoup! How exciting! We're heading back to Fallen London. 

 

June 11, 1888

A stroke of luck! We happened upon the Iron and Misery Company Funging Station today. Captain Erik was especially pleased and spent a lot of time scribbling reports. I'm pretty sure I saw them collect some info from the factor, but I don't want to tail the captain to find out for sure. I like this boat and don't want to be kicked off. The crew had tea with the factor and he told us about this little restaurant in Venderbight of all places. I've never met a tomb-colonist who can cook. He also gave us a crate full of bolegus-frond. Maybe I'll make it into mushroom pies?

 

June 14, 1888

We're back in London. We picked up a surgeon, the Cladery Heir, who is just as spooky as the Carnelian Exile but not as nice. She is more cold. Captain Erik requested I make 'something to cut' for their dinner. I have no idea what that means, so I made boiled crab and some chitons with fried mushrooms on the side. I was able to make a more elaborate meal since we're in London and have access to fresh veggies.

The Cladery Heir's Chitons

Ingredients:  
\- 4 chiton feet  
\- 6 pieces kelp, ribs discarded, leaves chopped.  
\- 1 tbsp red onion, diced  
\- 2 tbsp red pepper, diced  
\- 1tbsp rice vinegar  
\- 1/2 tbsp sesame oil  
\- 1 tbsp honey  
\- 1/2 cucumber  
\- 1 tsp sesame seeds 

Directions:  
\- Boil chiton feet in water until tender (30 - 45 minutes). Let cool, discard skin and guts. Set meat aside.  
\- Make vinaigrette with honey, vinegar and sesame oil. Add sesame seeds and veggies.  
\- Place chiton on a bed of kelp and pour vinaigrette over.

Notes:  
\- Chitons are a type of mollusk. It's a delicacy. I wonder if I can convince the crew to help me find some the next time we make port in a rocky area. I would love to experiment more with chitons, but I don't often get the chance to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now I really want to try cooking that chiton dish. I had no idea chiton was an actual thing until I googled it. Surprise, it's a real food! I'm amazed at the research Failbetter did for these minor details.


	4. Trip To Khan

June 14, 1888

This place is strange. We reached Pigmote Isle today and Captain Erik helped a group of rats fight a group of guinea pigs. The rats now own the island, but have made piece with the guinea pigs. They worship a piece of blue scintillack. I have a headache. An albino rat has joined the crew. I had to talk to Mog very sternly about not eating him.

 

June 16, 1888

Stopped by the nuns at Abbey Rock. Captain Erik salvaged a strange catch from their garbage pile. I really hope they don't want me to cook it.

 

June 18, 1888

We're looking for the Khanite since Captain Erik has business there. We've found their prison in the Sea of Lilies, so we must be close. The Sea of Lilies is the most beautiful place in the neath! I asked Captain Erik if we could try hunting one of the giant frogs (enormous frog legs!!!) but they smiled and said that our hold was already pretty full. I get the feeling they would have said no even if it wasn't though.

 

June 19, 1888

We docked at Polythreme today, where the clay men live. They can't do anything quietly. Kind of sad considering they like the quiet so much. We've only had one passenger this whole time that I've missed completely since she's sooooo quiet. Some crazy salvager lady who wants to find Lady Black (a mythical figure that probably doesn't exist). She wants to dive. Captain Erik let her borrow a suit. I can't watch. She's going to go crazy! Crazier than she already is! Captain Erik is calm during all this. My last glimpse of the captain was them leaning over the rail to watch the crazy lady's sinking form with a cold eye. The crew huddled in the kitchen with me. I'm making dinner early to help calm my nerves. 

It's been half an hour. Captain Erik strolled in holding a collection of outlandish artefacts. They said, calmly and quietly, "Back to work, now." The crew skittered back to their posts like startled rats. I had nowhere to go since I was already in the kitchen. Captain Erik gave me an odd little smile and left. I could have sworn their shadow flickered somehow. I don't know whether it's terror or something else, but my heart is pounding.

 

June 21, 1888

We made it to Khan! Very exotic over here. Turns out our business in Khan was collecting more brilliant souls to smuggle. Yay. We picked up a Soothe and Cooper Long-Box. It sort of looks like a coffin. I really hope it's not a coffin.

Unfortunately, Captain Erik told me to cook up the strange catch for their dinner with the Cladery Heir. Curses! After examining the scaled meat more closely, I discovered some odd purple bits. I don't know why it's scaled because I'm pretty sure it's an organ. I settled for frying it in butter. I was too nervous to try removing the scales. It wriggled unnervingly in the frying pan. I can't believe the captain wants to eat it, but when I served it (with hopes and prayers) they were actually salivating. The Cladery Heir looked more interested in dissecting it than eating it, but Erik took a bite before their plate had touched the table and pronounced it delicious. Cladery told them not to eat the purple bits (poisonous? I'll have to keep that in mind for next time.) but Erik ate them anyways, to my horror. Cladery tsked and examined the captain after dinner, but they were fine. How strange. I guess I should be happy the captain isn't poisoned, though! 

Erik bought a bunch of smoked fish at a terrible price, maybe to appease me since they delivered it themselves. They also watched me put it away. Unnerving, but appreciated.

 

June 23, 1888

Stopped off at the Iron and Misery Company Funging Station on our way back home. It feels strange calling Fallen London home, because I'm starting to think of the ship as home. I wonder if this is how all sailors feel. Maybe I should get a tattoo once we get back to London. Real sailors have tattoos, right? Erik bribed someone for the Irrepressible Cannoneer because he wouldn't stop following them around on the station. I'm glad I don't serve coffee on board, or we would have to throw the Cannoneer overboard to get a moment's peace.

I convinced some of the sailors to help me gather some of that tasty fungus on the island. Fungus stuffed fish for the crew. We also had tea with the factor again and he gave us even more fungus! I wonder if he'll like my recipe?

The Cannoneer's Fungus-Stuffed Fish

Ingredients:  
\- 1 whole cavern-tuna, carved into fillets  
\- 60 oz fungus, chopped  
\- 5 leeks, chopped  
\- 10 cups of rice  
\- 4 tbsp lemon zest  
\- 2 tbsp salt  
\- 8 tbsp secret seasoning

Directions:  
\- Cook rice. Fry fungus, leeks, salt, lemon zest and secret seasoning until tender.  
\- Mix rice with fungus.  
\- Spoon filling on a fillet. Place another fillet on top. Tie together with twine. Repeat until out of fillets.  
\- Bake in oven until fish is fully cooked. Serve with lemon wedges.

Notes:  
\- The factor sort of liked my recipe. He would have liked it more without any fungus at all, but you can't make fungus-stuffed fish without fungus. Otherwise it's just fish.  
\- Some of the factor's workers joined us for dinner and loved the meal since it was a break from fried fungus. Between our crew and the factor's workers, we polished off the whole cavern-tuna. Even Mog and Princess got some fish.

 

June 25, 1888

Stopped by Hunter's Keep on the way to Fallen London. The crew had lunch with Phoebe, but I spent my time in the kitchen with the maid. She's not very talkative, but I helped her cook and she seemed to like it. She only nearly cut my fingers off a few times, so I count that as progress. I'm sure we'll be swapping recipes in no time!

Back in London. Dad has accepted that I'll be traveling at sea. So nice of him. I'm getting the hang of how Captain Erik chooses where we'll go. I think we'll be dropping off that coffin box thing on our next trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Although that's a lot of stuffing, I'm still not sure if it's enough. Tuna can get up to 15 feet long depending on the species. That's three me's standing on top of each other! I'm short.... And I don't even want to know what Neathy oddness has affected the tuna.


	5. A Peculiar Courtship

June 28, 1888

I was right! We arrived at Station III to deliver the coffin box. An acolyte of some kind took the box from us (we had to carry it all the way up these awful stairs!) and opened it up. A dead person was inside. I mean, really dead. Like, not coming back dead. Not tomb-colony dead or temporary dead. For real dead. The acolyte cut this silvery metal thing out of the corpse and broke it open to reveal a strange black thing that sort of made my eyes hurt. It made my toes curl, but Captain Erik was fascinated. I think we'll be coming here again in the future. Brrr!

 

June 29, 1888

Exhilarating! We fought a pirate ship today! How awesome is that! This is the kind of adventure I was thinking of when I joined a ship. Not that our current adventures aren't cool, but this is more classic sailor stuff. We looted some prisoner's honey. I wanted to try a bit, but Captain Erik scowled and forbid it. Hmp.

 

July 1, 1888

Not only did we beat up another pirate ship and get more prisoner's honey, we docked on Shepard Isle today. I'm dying to try some of that honey! I've never had the chance before. We heard a nice ghost story about some people who made a home on a giant crab though, which almost makes up for the fact that Erik locked up the prisoner's honey in their quarters. We picked up a Sigil-Ridden Navigator and I made cold mutton sandwiches for his dinner with the captain. I thought the captain would appreciate a meat that wasn't fish. I suspect they ate it to be polite, because they seemed a bit put out upon seeing 'normal' meat. Maybe the captain has just developed a taste for sea monster flesh. Who knows how long they've been at sea. The Navigator wants to visit the Chapel of Lights. I just overheard a bit of their dinner conversation. I loitered a bit, hoping for some good sea stories. Captain Erik seemed interested as I am.

Because The Navigator is in pain unless he's working, he's our new first officer. The Carnelian Exile spends more time with me in the kitchen. She mostly sits in a corner petting Mog. Sometimes she tells me stories. The Navigator is doing a good job as first officer, I think. He's kind of intense, but once you get used to it he's not that bad.

 

July 3, 1888

Our hold is filled with stupid rocks because we stopped by the Salt Lions. Captain Erik said (quite flippantly, might I add), "If the stones start crying, toss them overboard." I'm not sure if they're joking or not. I don't think the captain can joke. I'm going to spend days sweeping sand off the decks after the rocks are gone. Carnelian Exile assures me that they probably won't weep, which just makes me more nervous.

 

July 5, 1888

Instead of going to London to get rid of these stupid rocks, we arrived at Venderbight today. I don't know why, since I'm pretty sure the tomb-colonists won't want a bunch of potentially weepy pebbles. Captain Erik sent the crew away for shore leave, but snagged my arm and pulled me aside. Without a word, they led me down a street to a little restaurant called 'The Vengeance of Jonah.' Seafood. I wasn't sure I wanted any, but I followed them inside anyways. You don't see many restaurants in Venderbight. It smelled pretty good inside. The captain got us a table and ordered two of the specials. I have no idea what it was, but it was delicious. One of the best things I've ever had. Erik asked what my opinion of the food was, so I told them that it was hands down the best meal I'd ever eaten. I may have cried a little. It was just so tasty.

Captain Erik nodded, sauntered right into the kitchen and invited the Bandaged Poissonnier aboard! And he accepted! I burst into tears as soon as I heard the news, sure that I was being replaced. Erik frowned and jerked away from me as though a cat had slipped right under their skin. The Poissonnier wrapped a bandaged arm around me and said, "No, no tears my plucky sous-chef. We will discover the seventh sensation, you and I! Imagine the things we will catch. The things we will consume. The things we will cook!"

I sniffled a bit. "Sous-chef?"

Captain Erik breathed a sigh of relief and nodded seriously. I have to admit, it cheered me up a lot to help the Poissonnier carry some of his cooking equipment into the hold. After all that was done Captain Erik stalked up to me. "You are happy here?" I started babbling excitedly about our adventures so far and the things I'd cooked and how glad I was that I could stay. Erik fidgeted a bit and gave me an odd little smile. They patted me on the head and stole away. I got an odd feeling in my stomach and the shadows around the captain flickered as if watching me. Not entirely an unpleasant feeling. What a strange creature.

The crew came back later. They had found some sort of artifact and wanted the captain to take a look at it. Lucky they did! Erik recognized it as a carving of a Fingerking, some snake creature that crawls through mirrors. All the mirrors were confiscated and some of the sailors are grumbling, but they feel better at least.

 

July 6, 1888

We got a Genial Magician to work as another engineer. We're heading back to Khan's Heart to pick up another crate to smuggle. Captain Erik has been eying the other ships in the docks. I wonder if they're planning to get a bigger one? Although it's nice having another cook around (especially such a skilled one), it's getting a bit cramped in here.


	6. The Captain's Token

July 9, 1888

Today was beyond words. The crew killed a western angler crab. The captain asked me to open the unprepossessing mass inside. I did and found some oily substance that we could use as fuel. With Erik's help I siphoned it out of the mass and into a barrel. Without thinking I said, "Thanks Erik, this was fun!" The captain paused a moment, then smirked. They kissed me sweetly and whispered that I was the only one who dared call them by name. They slipped an obsidian coin drilled with holes into my hand. 

"Don't lose it."

Then they were gone. I sat down, feeling pleased if a bit woozy.

 

July 12, 1888

We near Polythreme. The earth under the water constricts in massive skull faces. I fear they are hungry. I clutch Erik's token and feel calmer.

 

July 13, 1888

Picked up the crate of smuggled brilliant souls. I must admit, the blue glow is a bit comforting, but you have to whack it a bit with the broom to make the souls stop chittering. Normally I would just let them be, but the sound was bothering Princess. We also visited Frostfound and I hope to never see it again. Way too cold for me. We picked up a Tireless Mechanic (seems pretty sleepy to me if the dark circles under his eyes are anything to go by!)

 

July 15, 1888

Mount Palmerston is more to my liking. Smells like brimstone, but it's warm. Captain Erik went up the mountain while we were on shore leave. They came back with a hamper (Where did they get that?) full of honey-fungus. Yum! I don't want to know where this came from. While the captain was away, the Sigil-Ridden Navigator led the crew on an expedition into the abandoned villages nearby. We got some neat loot! The captain was surprised, but pleased. They frowned a bit at the supplies we spent getting the loot, but perked up a bit once I waved a cool artifact in their face.

 

July 16, 1888

We've entered the Stormbones. Blue lightning dances along the deck, but doesn't hurt anyone. I felt a bit daring, so I reached out to touch it. It flickered across my skin before arching like a cat and jumping onto the railing. I took Princess up to see it and the sea-bat chirped happily and chased the azure sparks. I've never felt more alive.

 

July 17, 1888

Snow! I've never been so cold. I huddle near the crate of souls for their warmth with a blanket wrapped around me. Mog and Princess huddle with me. The other sailors laugh and say I'm too gentle for the sea, but I can see them shivering.

 

July 18, 1888

I've never been so terrified! We had a run in with this enormous black glacier called Mount Nomad. I never thought it was real. It can't be real. It shouldn't be real. it sceramas trembes tespppaser forgive us 

I feel much better now. After we escaped, the crew was pretty overwhelmed. Apparently we all collapsed into gibbering heaps as soon as the adrenaline wore off. I came to in Captain Erik's bed. They were leaning against the far wall, watching me with dark eyes. Careful not to touch me, they put a little blemmigan (apparently the captain has a soft side!) in my lap and held out the obsidian coin, now hung on a string. "It will help," they said. After putting it on the fear and madness faded. I'm not sure what magic this is or how the captain got ahold of it. I'm supposed to keep it a secret since it's very precious. I bet they have one of these too and that's why they're so calm all the time. 

Mount Nomad left the ship in bad shape. Even though the captain had business to the north (in Whither, I think), we're going back to Fallen London ASAP.

To help calm my nerves the Poissonnier and I made some honey-fungus tisane for the crew.

Honey-Fungus Tisane

Ingredients:  
\- 1 honey-fungus, minced  
\- 1 cup of hot water

Directions:  
\- place minced honey-fungus in a pouch and let steep in the water until it smells rich and turns buttery gold.

Notes:  
\- the sailors needed some convincing to drink 'landlubber's drink' (apparently they haven't encountered tisanes before.) but enjoyed it once they tried it.  
\- maybe I shouldn't have corrected them when they called it tea. But really, it's not a tea, it's a tisane. There's a difference!

 

July 20, 1888

The fact that our ship was damaged did not stop the captain from picking up a bunch of saltstone from the Salt Lions. Oddly enough, the crew was cheered by this. The Carnelian Exile told me that they were happy because you need a strong captain at sea. The captain was making a point: that no living iceberg would break us. Too bad it nearly did. I'll be happier when the ship isn't leaky.

 

July 21, 1888

We stopped by Hunter's Keep for lunch with Lucy. Once again I spent my time with the maid. She let me watch her make a plum pudding and write down the recipe. I doubt I'll be able to make it at sea, but maybe once we get back to Fallen London I can try it out. I haven't done much baking yet. I now have a lot of experience with seafood, though.

Back in London and it feels good to restock. Captain Erik is determined to go north again. The crew is a bit nervy about that, but London has calmed their nerves somewhat.


	7. The Captain's Lover

July 24, 1888

We've arrived at Whither! I helped Maybe's Daughter look for her mother here, but these people are so frustrating. They answer questions with questions. Turns out Maybe's Daughter and I are alike in some ways, because we both ended up picking pockets. We got some echoes and mutersalt. Erik found out but they weren't mad. I sheepishly explained what had happened and the captain gave me the most disturbing grin I've ever seen and kissed me right in front of everyone! After the surprise wore off, I checked my pockets. The mutersalt was still there and so was a note. "Can I have this? I need it for something very important." Erik caught my eye before they vanished to their quarters and I nodded.

Tonight I found some shredded jillyfish by my bed. A present from the captain. Nobody else would do that. 

 

July 28, 1888

Another western angler crab killed. After slicing the beast open, the captain had me remove the stomach contents and serve them to the crew. Amazingly it's not soaked in digestive juices, but it is a bit glowy. To be safe the Poissonnier and I decided to serve it immediately. I will never understand sea monsters. A nightmare to work with.

Crab Mash

Ingredients:  
\- half-glowing western crab stomach contents  
\- 2 tbsp secret seasoning

Directions:  
\- Lose all hope of making this tasty. Serve to crew.

Notes:  
\- There's something about this meat that eats away flavour. It will only ever taste bland. We tried using the alembic baster, but even that didn't work. How frustrating. A texture like trout.  
\- At least serve it on pieces of shell. If the crew are going to have to eat this yuck they may as well have a moment of hope before they bite down.

 

July 29, 1888

Back in Fallen London. Erik has received a present from one of their contacts. Two dark glass bottles filled with some pickled meat. I think it's eel, or used to be at any rate. I'm a bit nervous about it, but the Poissonnier wants to make one into eel pies for the crew.

Captain Erik let me come with them for a special task. We took the mutersalt with us. Erik seems to know the urchins of Fallen London pretty well. Maybe they were one in the past? We traded the mutersalt to an urchin named Slivvy (I think one of The Knotted Socks) for info on Erik's father. Apparently, one of the reasons they became a captain was to find his bones. That's a noble goal! No wonder they're so determined at sea. Erik has to go to the Chelonate to get their father's bones. Of course, Slivvy also said that Storm talks to him so I'm not sure if this info is good. Erik seems to think so, though. They said, "Slivvy is a master at reading the wild words," and left it at that.

Erik led me back to a townhouse. Apparently they live there. I don't really have a home since I left my fathers place. I like the captain's home. It's comforting and roomy. A bit dusty, but nothing a bit of spit and shine wouldn't fix. I took the opportunity of fresh supplies to marinate the eel. Erik loitered in the kitchen watching me cook and nursing a cup of honey-fungus tisane. Once I had set the eel to marinade they sauntered over, scooped me up and carried me off to their bed with the cheekiest grin I've ever seen! I can only remember a few details, but the sensations of it all are branded into my memory. They insisted I leave the necklace on as it was important for some reason. Even though we fooled around (and I'd be more than happy to do it again!) I still have no idea what gender the captain is. It doesn't really matter though, since they prefer neutral pronouns anyways. I remember their shadow flickering as though being blown by a stiff wind. Erik took their mask off, and though I will never forget the intense look in their eyes, I can't remember what their face looks like without the mask. I have a few bite marks that I'm certain I don't want to look too closely at since they couldn't be made with human teeth. I ended up falling asleep and marinading the eel for too long. It basically melted into the marinade. I'm not sure how. When I pouted a bit about this, the captain laughed, kissed me on the forehead and promised to buy me more pickled eel.

The eel they bought before we left London ended up being smoked, but I don't mind at all.


	8. Beast in the Hold

August 7, 1888

The captain is saving up money to get a better ship. I can't wait! For now, they're trying to scrape together enough money which means doing a bunch of odd jobs. We stopped by in Polythreme and picked up some clay men bound for London. Carnelian Exile is keeping a close eye on them in case one of them turns out to be an unfinished man. I hope not!

 

August 8, 1888

Arrived in Khan today and picked up more smuggled souls and a coffin box. The hold is getting pretty full.

 

August 12, 1888

Coffin box delivered. Erik spent some time wrestling information out of the acolyte, but was dissatisfied with whatever they heard. Did they learn too little or too much?

 

August 14, 1888

Stopped over at Abbey Rock and found a Khanite cache. What luck! I'm glad we have more fuel now. We were starting to run low and the Genial Magician kept wandering into the kitchen and wondering aloud if any of our foodstuffs could be magicked into fuel. Luckily the Poissonnier is a big, bulky tomb-colonist. Nobody messes with a tomb-colonist unless they're pretty damn confident. The Genial Magician is confident in his ability to raid my stores, but not confident enough to get on the bad side of the Poissonnier.

 

August 15, 1888

Something was chasing us today! One of the crewmen ran to the captain wailing about eyes in the water. Captain Erik peered over the edge of the ship, grinned and called for nets and harpoons. We struggled all day. I thought the water must be boiling. I mostly stayed in the hold (I'm not cut out for combat!) with Princess and Mog. In the end, the beast slipped away and the crew came back looking more haggard than ever.

 

August 19, 1888

Stopped by at the funging station again on our way to Khan. Something incredible, but also terrifying happened. Erik took us all to explore the island, which I enjoyed. I was collecting samples of a gillyfrond fungus when the captain said, "We're being followed." The crew drew together in an anxious knot, but the captain grinned manically and readied their weapons. We all followed their lead. The crew readied their guns and knives. I took Mog out of my backpack and set him on the ground. The captain wanted to catch the beast alive BECAUSE OF COURSE THEY DID. We started arguing over who would be the bait, since obviously nobody was going to volunteer. While we argued, the beast snuck up on us. Captain Erik smartly stepped forward and did something. It's hard to describe. Erik made some sort of sound with their mouth, that much I know, but the sound itself escapes me. If docility and peace were a sound, I think that would be it. Clearly the captain knows something of Wild Words. I wonder if they used to be one of the Knotted Socks? It explains a bit, but not much.

Anyways, the beast didn't like that at all. It flinched horribly and the crew jumped on it. While the beast was recovering from the captains Wild Word, we wrapped it in blankets and chains. It's chained up in the hold right now so tight it can barely move. Everyone except Mog is terrified of it, and it makes me nervous. Also a bit fascinated, but mostly nervous. Erik comes down every day to throw it bloody scraps of meat. They coo at it like it's their sea-bat. They're confident it won't break free and certain the Labyrinth of Tigers will pay for it back in Fallen London. They better! The beast has multiple jointed limbs and its mouth opens to reveal more mouths. It's like a toothy nesting doll. I have to serve meals on deck, since the crew won't come down to the hold anymore without a damn good reason. Apparently food isn't good enough.

 

August 22, 1888

Arrived at Khan today. Picked up more souls. The beast in the hold is quiet now. Mostly. The crew will come down to get things from the hold (including meals) but won't stay for more than a minute. Erik noticed a few more prayers being thrown about, so they took the crew to a temple of the blue in Khan. After that the crew was much more relaxed. Relaxed enough to boast that the gas lamps of London are much nicer! The temple's ceiling was such a beautiful blue colour, though. Does the sky really look like that? I take comfort in the false stars in the cavern ceiling of the neath.

 

August 23, 1888

Picked up more clay men bound for London. They clomped into the hold and lay down in a snug row right next to the chained beast. The beast hissed at them for a while and pouted when it couldn't get a reaction. Ha! The chains also came alive and started taunting the beast, which I think explains its sullen behaviour. It won't eat when Erik throws meat at it. I even let Mog go up and whack it on the nose, and that got a halfhearted sound of some sort, but it still won't eat. I've named it Chitters.

 

August 24, 1888

One of the clay men turned out to be unfinished. We all ran out of the hold, but the unfinished man crushed two slow sailors like they were rotten fruit! Captain Erik strode in, cape swirling behind them. I'm not sure where the cape came from, but it's very dramatic. I'm not sure what happened, but when the unfinished man came out we edged away. Erik glared at it until it got on a lifeboat and sailed away. Thank Stone it's gone! On a positive note, I fed Chitters the remains of the two squished sailors. Turns out it was just grumpy about smelling so many tasty humans nearby and not eating any. It lapped the meat right up and then lunged at me despite its cackling chains. The chains held fast, even pulled against the beast. I think the chains are enjoying themselves. When we leave Polythreme waters and their sentience goes away, I'm going to miss them.

 

August 25, 1888

Something drifted face down in the water. Fished out the body and fed it to Chitters.

 

August 28, 1888

Arrived in London today! As soon as we had gotten rid of the smuggled souls we were searched by the constables. Boy did they jump when they saw the beast in our hold! I don't think they'll be searching our boat anytime soon. Cladery wanted to dissect Chitters today! Erik narrowed their eyes. They must want information out of Cladery, because they let the surgeon cart poor Chitters off. Goodbye Chitters. You were a sweet, savage beast and I'll miss you.


	9. The Glass Edge

September 1, 1888

Success! Captain Erik bought a larger ship! It's just beautiful. Small but formidable. Like an angry vole or Mog when he's hungry. The kitchen is the same size, but the stove is of a higher quality.

 

September 4, 1888

Stopped by at Mutton Island. The locals are preparing for a festival of some sort, but drownies are congregating near the shoreline. It's pretty nerve-wracking. Do they know about the drownies? The captain smells a job and wants to investigate. They called it the Fruits of the Sea Festival and babbled something about deliveries. We returned to the island later that evening to find it empty. We investigated the whole village and found nothing. A weird fish-man effigy, a bunch of shoes strewn along the beach, a flooded cellar, empty booze bottles (shame about that) and not a soul in sight. I think they had some deal with the drownies and it went wrong. Maybe to pay up they had to join the drownies. Everyone has a different theory, but the captain won't hear any of it. Buzzkill.

 

September 6, 1888

Stopped by at Cumaean Canal. Being near the surface always makes me nervous, but the captain must have picked up some important info because they're very excited about something. I caught a glimpse of what looked like a cipher before they whisked the scrap of paper into their pockets.

 

September 11, 1888

We visited Pigmote Isle today and the rats had an issue that they wanted the captain's advice with. Some freak in a hippo mask had been mooning over the scintillack. Erik's advice was basically (they put it more eloquently) to stop being weird and let the hippo man go. What a freak.

 

September 13, 1888

We're heading south and we're passing through the Swallowing Isles. The Autumn wind that blows here is making everyone cry a lot. Sailing is so weird sometimes. Even Mog is all sulky. Princess gives little sea-bat sniffles and hangs despondent from her perch.

 

September 14, 1888

Mangrove College is incredible! I mean the people are cool, but they're mostly a bunch of old professors working on their theories. The foliage is what's incredible. The fruit falls right into your hands. It literally ferments itself. It's incredible! Does it keep fermenting itself if it leaves the island? The Poissonnier and I had a whole bunch of recipe ideas. The captain shot down most of them when they said, very firmly, "Under no circumstances will you get the crew drunk."

We picked up a passenger who wants to go to Port Cecil. He's pretty quiet. Mostly sits in his bed and writes maths on the walls. Maths. Who needs maths? I don't know if maths ever did anyone any good. Can't imagine the maths can do anything when it's on the walls anyways. I'll have to clean it up later, I just know it. The captain picked up some secret military intelligence too. Not that they passed that info around for the crew to see. I'm just getting sneakier aboard the ship.

The captain let me direct an expedition to gather supplies. All on my own! I set Poissonnier to fishing since seafood is basically the only thing he's interested in. Then I led the crew down a patch of coastline. We stripped it clean! The college members grumbled a bit, but it'll grow back in a week so we didn't pay them any mind. It was incredible! I guided the crew and told them which plants to focus on and which to ignore (I had to take into account the rate of fermentation, since the captain didn't want me serving alcoholic meals aboard the ship). We ended up with 4 crates full of various fungus and fruit (including some adorable crawling-berries) and 2 crates full of fresh seaweed and cavern-trout. Yum! Making a special treat for the crew tonight to thank them for all their hard work.

Swamp-Fruit Pudding

Ingredients:  
\- 1 jillyfish corpse puddle (I guess?)  
\- 4 cups swamp-fruit, crushed  
\- a handful of crawling-berries

Directions:  
\- Bake jillyfish in oven at 350 degrees until it solidifies into a creamy, milk-white mass. Remove largest poison glands.  
\- Stir crushed fruit into the jillyfish and let cool.  
\- Serve in individual cups with high sides. Top with a few crawling-berries.

Notes:  
\- Jillyfish is fun to cook with because the flavour, texture and solidity change depending on how you cook it. Raw it is like mushroom soup. Baked it turns into this creamy, sweet mass with the texture of pudding. Yummy! I'll have to try grilling jillyfish sometime to see what happens. Jillyfish is also unusual in that the poison glands solidify once you bake it. I have no idea why. Cooking in the neath can be challenging for these reasons, especially when you're working with materials that like to bend the laws of physics. Anyways, if you leave a few tiny poison glands in, the jillyfish will make your mouth all tingly! Poissonnier assured me it was perfectly safe and wouldn't poison anyone. He was right.  
\- Make sure you're using cups with high sides! The crawling-berries will move around (that's what they do) and you don't want them falling out. Also they're so cute.  
\- Crawling-berries can be tough to store, not because they crawl but because bored sailors, cats and sea-bats like playing with them. They race them down the decks if you must know. I keep mine in a locked box to avoid this.  
\- Swamp-fruit stops its slow fermentation process once it leaves the island. Not sure why, but good to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to do some mental leaps to figure out how the jillyfish works in Sunless Sea. Like most sea-beasts it tends to dissolve on death. The game implies that you most often eat it as a soup. Then we see shredded and roasted jillyfish mentioned in some ports, which makes no sense! You can't shred a liquid, can you? I settled on having it change to something else depending on how you cook it.


	10. Moving Up The Ladder

September 17, 1888

We made it to Port Carnelian today. I love it dearly. The tigers were really fun to talk to and we panned for sapphires. I helped Maybe look for her mother. Frustrated by our lack of progress, we nicked some sapphires. There's one good thing about having a captain who likes smuggling things: they don't mind when you steal as long as they get a cut. Those are rules I can live with!

 

September 20, 1888

Found another odd mass today. I sliced it open and served the meat to the crew. It kept sighing dramatically. Very nerve-wracking to have my food talk back to me! I salted it thoroughly and that shut it up. A few of the crew said they heard it sighing while eating it so I gave them more salt. And some pepper.

 

September 21, 1888

The captain had dinner with Poissonnier today. I know because the tomb-colonist got really excited and booted me out of the kitchen to create his 'masterpiece.' I can be helpful! Oh, well. That's not important anyways. What is important is that I'm now the ship's official chef. How awesome is that! After their meal with Poissonnier, Erik slunk into my room. They really startled me. I may have yelped. I had no idea the captain could move that quietly and judging by their smirk they were playing with me. They sat down beside me and said, "From now on, you will be our cook and the Poissonnier will be your assistant." I was flabbergasted. "My officers don't sail on this ship because they love it," they continued matter-of-factly. "They want something that I can help them get. For example, Poissonnier cooks for himself. You cook for the crew. Of all the people on board, you and I are the only ones who think of this ship as home." I started to say something but the captain drew me down into the sheets and my thoughts scattered. No bite marks this time. I remember a bit more of what happened. 

Poissonnier isn't angry or anything. If anything, he acts as though he's the one that's been promoted. He spends a lot more time writing out some really disturbing recipe ideas. I'm sure they'd taste good. I just think the ingredients lists are bit ... dangerous.

 

September 24, 1888

Currently in London. Setting out to Mangrove College to explore the marshes. Erik wants me to help identify the plants and animals inside, so I'm studying the marsh-fruit we still have in our stores. I've learned some fascinating things so far.

 

September 28, 1888

Finally here. We're ready. We started by crossing a pool of mirrored water. Made it safely through, but I felt something watching us. We followed a knot of wisps to a grove of dying trees. Nothing tasty there and the crew was getting freaked so we moved on quickly. We spent most of the day deciphering the riddles on a strange pillar of some sort. Left with more questions than answers. 

Still exploring. So many cockatoos, but we can't watch them. Don't want to risk going hunting and getting lost. Lost someone to a blue ape. Or a spider. Not entirely sure. We did find some solacefruit and a diamond though, so it worked out in the end.

 

September 30, 1888

Wax winds are the worst! Everything is starting to get a layer of wax on it. You have to shave it off to get anything done. Makes for slow going and all the Tireless Mechanic does now is scrape wax from the engines. Not sure how he does it without losing his arms.

 

October 4, 1888

We arrived at Gaider's Mourn. It's the tallest thing I've ever seen. A wonder it doesn't scrape against the false-sky! A bunch of sallow dockmen lifted our ship up in a winch with a bunch of ropes. I can't look at it dangling in the air like that. Makes me nervy. I keep thinking it's going to fall, but the captain assured me it was safe. I must admit, there are some great cooks here. I traded my pudding recipe for a shredded jillyfish recipe. Can't wait to try it out!

Shredded Jillyfish

Ingredients:  
\- 1 jillyfish, freshly killed

Directions:  
\- Grill in a pan over a hot flame until the meat coagulates and turns a light blue.  
\- Carefully shred the tender meat with a fork, leaving the poison glands where they are

Notes:  
\- Because it's heated so quickly and thoroughly the poison glands let out just enough poison to make your mouth all tingly. It also tastes tingly. Prior to trying this, I didn't know that was a flavour.

 

October 9, 1888

Back in London. I got to watch the engineers install a flensing cannon today. Fascinating stuff. I bet we'll be able to hunt all sorts of tasty beasties with it. The Poissonnier is pretty excited about it too, but nobody is more excited than the Irrepressible Cannoneer. Damn, can that man move! I've never seen anyone work with such exuberance. He's only really alive when he's playing with giant cannons.


	11. Marked By The Principles

October 10, 1888

I love the flensing cannon! The meat we get from sea creatures is less bruised since the crew started using it. We got some tasty western angler crab meat. Upon dissection, I discovered a mass that once grilled into submission made a good meal for the crew. The only downside was the choking smoke it gave off. It made the Poissonnier uncomfortable, so either Erik's token protected me from some horror or the Poissonnier really isn't used to smoke. Honestly, at first I thought I was burning it, but nope. Just more neath weirdness. Tasted good, though.

 

October 12, 1888

Stopped by the funging station again and explored the island a bit on the captain's behest. They told us to take our weapons, so I picked up Mog and followed the crew. We snuck up on a pirate's camp. We could smell the brimstone on them. They were from the Iron Republic, devils all of them. Erik grinned manically and fired the first shot. I threw Mog in the face of a pirate and scurried off behind a rock just in time to avoid another pirate trying to shoot me with bubbles made of rainbow meat. Then something exploded and the resulting purple sparks chirped like canaries. Erik yelled for us to get back so the crew scattered. Lucky they did, because those sparks ate a whole bunch of stuff including the rest of the pirates. Not sure what they were trying to accomplish there. The crew was happy about the loot. I was just disappointed that the rainbow meat had turned to ash by the time I'd scraped it all together. 

Goodbye beautiful rainbow meat. I'm sure you were delicious.

 

October 13, 1888

Visited the Godfall. Those warrior-monks sure are feisty! Erik presented them with a trophy of ours to see what they could learn and those monks spouted off so many tall stories it's a wonder their pants didn't catch fire. They got pretty rowdy too. I'm pretty sure one of them made to pinch my bottom. It's hard to say since his fingers never made contact. Captain Erik's shadow flickered and the monk just screamed, burst into tears and fled down the hall. Erik smiled thinly and snaked an arm around my waist. I suppose the captain is a jealous creature. Does this mean we're in an official relationship? It's hard to imagine someone as cool as the captain being really interested in me. I wouldn't be surprised if the captain is a mindreader since as soon as I thought that they nuzzled my neck like an overgrown cat.

I'm pretty sure the crew noticed since some of them (and the monks) started roaring with laughter. None of them quite dared to slap the captain on the back, but I think some of the monks wanted to. I hope the crew doesn't treat me any differently.

 

October 18, 1888

The crew does treat me differently. And I love it. No more having to keep Mog stationed in the kitchen at night to ward off midnight snackers. The crew either respects or fears the captain too much to make me mad. I don't think captain Erik would throw someone overboard (or whatever they're afraid of) on my account, but they can think that if it means my sweet little Mog can sleep in my bed at night. There's nothing like curling up with a cat at night. What a cute fluffball Mog is! He's the best kitty ever.

We caught an albino moray eel today. Erik says the bones will be valuable. Unfortunately the meat is far too stringy (and half-rotten somehow) to eat. I did find a skull inside the spine though. Just planted right in there. Creeeeepy.

 

October 19, 1888

Arrived at Port Cecil today to drop off the maths passenger. Remember him? I can finally scrub all that chalk off the walls now. It's cool here though. Very pretty. A town built entirely out of coral. The people here even have coral growths on them. We collected some scintillack along the shore and I'm pretty sure it (or the sea) started whispering to us. We went back to the ship after that. I did stop by for a game of chess with the locals, though. I used to play chess with my dad and it looked fun over here. The pieces are so shiny.

Captain Erik has taken me back to the ship. I played and played and played and played and played and played and played and played. Blood smeared the chess pieces like a sweet, liquid offering. I won and won and won and won and won and won and won and Erik grabbed my arm and dragged me away before I finished the last game. I need to finish! 

Captain Erik has taken me back to the ship. They lie on the bed watching me. I sit beside them tersely. They hold my foot so I can't leave. Don't they understand what I'm learning? Finally they fall asleep. I can go now.

Wow, that was intense. I went a bit mad there. So, here's what happened. Turns out the chess pieces have a nasty effect on the players, which I didn't know. I snuck off the ship to go play some more chess. I didn't know at the time, but Erik had pretended to fall asleep so I would do this. Then they followed me. Wasn't that clever? I'm glad they did! I followed a bishop into a cave of some sort and started playing this strange chess game with the cavern itself. It sighed pleasantly and asked for my help. I agreed, though I'm not sure what it wants. All I know is that it spat out a rubbery man (capable of speech???) called Nacreous Outcast and told me to get it a chess piece from the Salt Lions. 

Then whatever spell I was under broke. I nearly collapsed, but Erik darted out of the shadows and caught me. Nacreous tried to catch me too, but Erik was faster and made a terrible snarling sound that made the rubbery man freeze. The captain carried me back to their room so I could rest. Nacreous tried to follow, so the captain ordered it to go to the hold. Nacreous made a distressed burbling and looked to me. I motioned to listen to the captain. The rubbery man bowed its head and left.

Tonight has been so strange. I'm not sure what's going to happen now.


	12. The Sea-Eyed Boy

October 22, 1888

We found an island called Nuncio that was filled with postmen. Letters kept washing ashore, like the sea was pushing them there. Cladery operated on one of them to remove the call, whatever that is. It cheered her up quite a bit. I wish she'd stop collecting pickled trophies from her operations though. The crew enjoyed having some shore leave. Erik snooped around the letter offices a bit and I spent my time in the local pub learning a delicious recipe for bergamot-pomegranate curd.

The Postman's Bergamot-Pomegranate Curd

Ingredients:  
\- 3/4 cup sugar  
\- 1/2 cup bergamot juice  
\- 1 tbsp bergamot zest  
\- 2 sea egg yolks  
\- 1/2 cup butter  
\- seeds of one pomegranate

Directions:  
\- Simmer about 2 inches of water in a saucepan. Add butter and sugar to a steel or tin pot. Place the pot into the simmering water and let the sugar and butter melt together. Add the juice and zest. Stir to combine. Take off heat and set aside. Keep the water simmering.  
\- Whisk the yolks in a separate bowl. While whisking, slowly add the butter-juice mixture to the yolks. Don't do this the other way around, or you'll end up with some very strange scrambled eggs.  
\- Put the whole mixture back into the pot and set the pot back into the simmering water. Cook this for about 20 minutes, whisking occasionally so nothing sticks to the sides. it should thicken to a pudding like texture.  
-  Strain through a fine metal mesh to get rid of any bits of sea egg that didn't fully incorporate. Stir in the pomegranate seeds and let chill for several hours or overnight.

Notes:  
\- I would like to extend my personal gratitude to the Explicable Lapidarist for their incredible insights on ingredients and ways to get a smoother curd. I have revised this recipe to account for the improvements their letter allowed me to make.  
\- This is amazing on toast.  
\- Even more amazing is that Nuncio has cows, pomegranate trees and bergamot trees. What a harvest!  
\- To those who don't know, bergamot is just a fancy name for a sour orange (different from a regular orange!) and pomegranate is a tropical fruit that grows on trees. The ruby shell is cracked open to reveal clusters of sweet jewel-like seeds. Delicious and one of my fave fruits.  
\- It's impractical to carry milk at sea, but butter stores very well if kept in a cold place. It's a bit more expensive than cooking-oil, but this recipe makes the extra cost worth it.

 

October 23, 1888

Arrived at Fathomking's Hold today. Incredible! A town of drownies, mostly underwater. We could only see a portion of beautifully sculpted coral that breached the surface of the waves. It stretched up to the false-sky like a beckoning hand. We had lovely amethyst dreams there. I dreamt I was strong and powerful. That my skin was encrusted with jewels and I ran across a grassy sea.

 

October 27, 1888

Stopped by at Port Carnelian. I did a bit of investigating and learned what the captain is so interested in over here. It's not sapphires! It's a secret workshop filled with engineers. They're trying to convert the boat into a submarine. It's very, very illegal. Interesting. I think I'll keep this to myself. I must admit, after some thought, I'm curious about what's under the sea. Why is it illegal to go under the waves, anyways? 

 

October 31, 1888

One of our sailors went mad today. She grabbed a cudgel and ran through the hold shrieking like a banshee. Poissonnier had to slam the kitchen door in her face and barricade it. The crew dragged her down and tied her up with the iron chains we keep in the back of the hold. She screams about how she is 'his fury' and her eyes are a stormy gray. I've been instructed not to feed her any more but the bare minimum she needs to survive. I'm not sure that will help, especially since she doesn't eat the scraps I give her.

 

November 2, 1888

Sold the mad sailor to the orphanage. Oddly enough, the sailors were relieved to have her gone. The sea does toughen you up, I guess. Captain Erik gave me a sweet kiss and rushed to their home in London. They came back at the end of the day with a child that looked about ten or so. I waved at them from the prow of the ship, wondering who the child was. Erik took the child's hand, bent down and whispered into his ear. The captain gestured at me a bit and the young boy looked at me with eyes as dark as the undersea. The boy grinned and started to rush forward, but Erik called them back and whispered something fiercely. The boy pouted for a few seconds. Erik led him up the docks and onto the ship. They held the boy out to me.

I knelt down to eye level. "And who might you be?"

The child looked to Erik for guidance, but the captain shrugged. After some thought the child announced, "I'm a boy!" Adorable. Erik explained that since the Poissonnier was so busy with his culinary experimentation (the tomb-colonist has been getting more withdrawn lately) they thought I could use an extra helping hand in the kitchen. Not a bad idea. Our crew has gotten larger since we've upgraded our ship. The boy's name is Tatti and he is just the sweetest thing ever! He likes Mog, so that bodes well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Those postman have it lucky with their luscious tropical island. Jerks. The real kicker is that the bergamot is surprisingly native to North America. The pomegranate on the other hand, is native to Iran and Northern India. How did the postman get them to grow together on Nuncio? I'm assuming they don't trade a lot of fruit back and forth. I can only assume Neathy magic. 
> 
> I suppose it's always possible that a bergamot or pomegranate tree got lost in the mail along with some very confused cows. Those postmen sure have their hands full.


	13. The Woman Who Cared For The Sea

November 3, 1888

We've arrived at the Salt Lions. We tried to drop off Nacreous, but the Rubbery just said that we need Salt's attention first. Back to Hunter's Keep I suppose. The three sisters are quite well connected with the sea-gods. Tatti has been practically clinging to my skirts ever since he got on board! I wonder if he's afraid of the undersea. If he is, he picked a bad place to be. I don't mind him following me around all the time, but I hate to think he's unhappy. 

 

November 4, 1888

Stopped by at Hunter's Keep. Cynthia will get us Salt's attention. Then it's back to the Stone Lions. I kept Tatti outside with me since the maid hissed something awful on seeing a child come over to visit. The sea-eyed boy and I skipped stones on the shoreline. I asked him if he missed his parents and, to my surprise, he said, "Not at all. The captain's my father and I get to spend every day with him."

I've never been so shocked in my life. The captain had a sweetheart back in London? I was the other woman? What? Was the captain a widower? I tried not to let Tatti see my confusion, but I think he saw anyways. After some time, Erik came over (the crew were heading back to the ship. The captain had separated from them when they saw us on the shore) Tatti ran up to Erik and spoke rapidly. I heard feet pattering and Tatti ran back up to the ship after giving me a quick hug. 

Erik sat down beside me. Before I could say anything, they held me close and said, "there is nobody in London. Only you." I looked into their eyes. I'm not sure how or even why, but I'm certain that the captain was telling me the truth. I felt a lot better after that.

 

November 5, 1888

Arrived at Salt Lions today. Nacreous climbed all the way up to the top, now that we have Salt's blessings, and dove right into the water. Since he's a rubbery, there's no danger of him going mad and I'm pretty sure he can breathe underwater. I spent an hour leaning over the railing waiting for him. It is partly my fault that poor Nacreous has to go to all this trouble, but he doesn't seem to mind. I'm not good at deciphering rubbery facial expressions. The crew sent me looks while I was waiting, but Tatti sat down beside me and dangled his feet between the railings. Eventually, the crew was dawdling near the railing too, but none of them would admit being worried about a rubbery and I know better than to point it out anywhere but here. Captain Erik watched Tatti and I watch the water. I think they approved. They gave me a little wave and I waved back.

Finally, Nacreous surfaced and solemnly presented me with a sphinxstone chess piece. It rung of so much ceremony I felt I should curtsy or something.  I settled for making Nacreous a delicious fish mash. Nacreous isn't picky, but he slurps up fish mash with special delight. We are heading back to the Principle after we drop off some coffee at Khan.

Nacreous' Fish Mash

Ingredients:  
\- fish offal. sea-beast offal. Anything that looks like offal and came from the waters.

Directions:  
\- plug your nose and mash to a paste with a mortar and pestle.

Notes:  
\- the nose plugging is important because sea-beast offal smells really bad once you start mashing it.

 

November 9, 1888

Dropped off the coffee. Tatti was very interested in it. I don't think he's seen it before. Very odd. He's a great helper, though a lot needs to be explained to him. He's a smart boy and knows some things but not others. He knows an unusual amount about sea-beasts and ships for such a young boy! While making more mash for Nacreous today, he was able to tell me all about the organs I was using but just the other day he asked me why we don't live underwater. When I told him it was dangerous to go in the water and would drive you mad he paused thoughtfully. "Drownies live underwater. So do Rubbery Men." I told him humans didn't. He smiled brightly and said, "Father said I wasn't to go in the wet anyways. Even though the dry makes me itchy." I wasn't sure what to say to that. "They say I'll get used to being in the dry," the boy went on.

I told him I've always been fond of the dry myself. I showed him some of my old journal entries (specifically the one where we saw the drownie-city Fathomking's Hold, but we got a bit carried away) and I was ecstatic when he was also interested in the recipes! What a great kid! I don't have much experience with children, but if they're all like this they can't be that bad. He lingered a bit over an entry that I took away when I realized it mentioned kissing. Way too young for that! Besides I don't know how he'll feel about my relationship with the captain. I don't want him to think I'm replacing his mother, wherever she is. I don't know anything about the woman. She might be dead or a tomb-colonist or just found someone else. It makes me nervous to think about it. For some reason, I don't like the idea of sharing Erik with another woman and I really care about what Tatti thinks of me. I don't know why, just that it's important that he likes me. Please let him like me.

 

November 10, 1888

Curses! I was hoping it would be over once we dropped off that chess piece. It's just started. Erik, Nacreous and I went down to the cave where the Principles are. Tatti wanted to come too, but Erik sternly ordered him back to his quarters. The Principles want us to fetch them five different things! A monsters tooth, wakeful idol, flute-core, a little flint and a heart-shelled sliver. By Stone, I don't know how we're going to manage. The captain is determined to see it through with me, though. It helps that we had a little flint and a monsters tooth on hand, but still.

Tatti went to my room, not his, by the way. As I write this, he's sleeping on my bed. I can see how closely he resembles the captain when he's sleeping. I also noticed, for the first time, that his hands and feet are delicately scaled and clawed. Why didn't I see that earlier?

 

November 15, 1888

We're back in London. I asked Tatti if he would be visiting his mother while we're in port. Tatti smiled shyly. "Mother doesn't know about me. I get to see her lots, though. Can I call you mother?"

I sputtered a bit. Didn't expect that! I told him that his father may not like it, but the boy pouted and pleaded. He pulled on the hem of my skirts like Mog does when trying to sucker me into giving him table scraps! Finally, I pushed him out of the kitchen and told him to go clean something. He giggled and ran out when I brandished the broom. Honestly! I couldn't let him do that. What would the captain think?


	14. Secrets Of The Sea

November 18, 1888

The most incredible thing happened today! We encountered the Pirate Poet!!! I thought that for sure she was a myth. I'm wondering if any myths are actually myths now. We battled her ship and Captain Erik saved her from the wreckage, eyes gleaming with the thrill of capture. We basically robbed her and then let her go. As I write this, she's in a rowboat heading off to Gaider's Mourn. How exciting! I'm so glad I'm a sailor now!!! I wonder if we'll ever see her again.

 

November 20, 1888

In the crew's excitement over catching the pirate-poet, we may have accidentally shot down a merchant ship. Oops. Erik had a long talk with Tatti about how you're absolutely _not_ supposed to do that. Tatti shrugged and asked if we could eat the bodies. He's like his father in that IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO TELL IF HE'S JOKING. UGH.

 

November 21, 1888

Tatti has discovered the crate of souls (not smuggled this time) that we have on deck. He sits on top of the crate and listens to their pleading, clinking voices.

 

November 24, 1888

Arrived at Mount Palmerston. The captain took the crate of souls up the mountain. Not sure why. A deal of some sort, I guess. I took Tatti on a picnic. We lost the food and blanket (Tatti was very sorry that he accidentally dropped them down a cliff), but found some zzoup in a dusty, red well. Tatti's eyes sparked when he saw it and he insisted on climbing down the well himself. I was an excellent robber at his age, so I tied a rope around him and let him drop. It just occurred to me that we probably shouldn't tell the captain about how we found the zzoup.

Just served dinner and discovered it was too late. Erik snuck up behind me, snaked their arms around my waist and purred into my ear, "Been down any wells, lately?" They seemed amused, if anything.

 

November 26, 1888

Arrived in Khan today and got access to the Nephrite Quarter. We can finally sell more than coffee over here! Or at least we could if they weren't such hardasses. They're too suspicious to let us in. So frustrating. Erik gave Tatti a lovely pair of sharkskin gloves. He only takes them off when he helps me cook.

In Khan's Shadow Erik gathered the crew together and made sure we all had our weapons. Nacreous is staying behind with Tatti. Tatti pouted about that. He sulks as well as I do. I wonder where he got that from? Anyways, we snuck into and plundered an old vessel. Erik found some schematics for a submarine. I can't wait until the upgrade can be applied. The crew know about it now. The captain made it clear that anyone who did not want to be involved didn't have to be. They also fingered their weapons while they said it, and even though we were all armed it was clear that dissenters would not make it out alive. We're off to Port Carnelian to give the blueprints over. I can't wait!

 

November 27, 1888

Arrived at Port Stanton. An island that I'm pretty sure is filled with soul-stealing monkeys. I asked the captain if I should keep their child hidden in the hold, but they were unconcerned and stated that the monkeys wouldn't be interested in his soul. Great? The captain leaned over the rail to examine the island and I recognized the look in their eyes. The look of 'ooh boy, I can't wait to make my port report.' They really do love exploring. It's kind of sweet, actually.

We're going to be exploring the islands a bit. The captain only wants to take Tatti and I. Tatti is coming along. I worried about taking a child into such dangerous territory (being at sea is bad enough), but the captain smiled, kissed me and produced a very large knife for their son. That's much better. I have Mog as a weapon, so I didn't need a knife. Erik slipped one into my belt anyways.

We started with Hearthsake Isle, home to a group of trapped pirates. We nearly got our heads blown off by some loon with a blunderbuss and met a really bad explorer. At least we weren't eaten. While Tatti was ooing over the loon's blunderbuss Erik leaned against me. "How are you and Tatti getting along?" For some reason, I blushed. We're getting along pretty well, so I don't know why.

Erik and I explored another of the islands by ourselves. We found a beautiful hot spring and went for a swim. Just as things started getting frisky, we heard giggling. Erik made a peculiar growling sound low in their throat (hot!). A little girl scooped up our clothes and ran off! We chased after her. She dangled from the trees demanding that we say pretty please. Obnoxious child! She threw us a sock. Not even my sock! We chased after her some more. I nearly triggered some stupid rope trap, but Erik pulled me out of the way just in time. She stopped right in the middle of a really gross marsh. We managed to climb up to her. It helped that we were completely unconcerned with our nudity. An ape ambushed her though just as we were in arm's reach. 

Erik fired off one of their Wild Words and it's head sort of smooshed in on itself. Yikes. As a thank you, she led us to her little hut and left us a very interesting artifact. Our clothes were nowhere to be found, though.

We sighed and grimly shook our heads. Erik shrugged and strolled back to the ship. They honestly didn't seem to mind the nudity, until the crew started laughing. I slunk after them, cheeks burning. Several of the crew fired off flares as makeshift fireworks and the captain barked at them for wasting supplies. Don't think they cared, though.

We left the island after that.


	15. Beneath The Waves

November 28, 1888

We're on our way to Port Carnelian to hand in the submarine blueprints. Today, we stopped by the Nativity. Spiders everywhere! We helped the locals prepare for their Festival of Silk. Honestly, if I lived here, I too would practically worship the sorrow-spiders. I'd rather keep my eyes. We ran into Tree of Ages, a sorrow-spider council crammed into a ship, but the ship wasn't at its prime so the captain snuck past it. They still stared longingly at it, so I have a feeling the captain will have hunting dreams tonight.

A sorrow-spider climbed aboard the ship. No biggie. The Haunted Doctor was with Tatti and I when it happened and he shrank back into the corner cowering. Over one little sorrow-spider! Tatti grinned, plucked a cleaver from the drawer and expertly threw it. It neatly sliced the sorrow-spider in half. He's very deadly with kitchen implements! I'll have him help me with the dissections from now on. Anyways, it turns out that the Haunted Doctor comes from the surface! He's not neath born. Apparently he spent a year in the Observatory where they nest. The Lady took his eye in exchange for knowledge. It messed him up a bit.

I certainly hope the Haunted Doctor doesn't realize that one of the crates we got from Nativity is full of sorrow-spider eggs. I must resist the urge to cook some and see what happens. 

 

December 1, 1888

The Isle of Cats! I tried to help Maybe's Daughter look for her mother here, but we got separated. She came back completely sloshed with a bundle of coins. I took Tatti for a walk through the city. The captain visited the local abbey and came back with a bunch of mushroom wine that I am not allowed to use for cooking. Disappointing. Also disappointing: there are not many cats here.

 

December 5, 1888

Arrived at Port Carnelian! The captain ushered us all out of the ship so their benefactor could transform it into a submarine. The captain, Tatti and I had tea. It's silly, but it felt like we were a family. I've never really thought about marriage. If the captain asked for my hand, I don't think I would mind.

 

December 8, 1888

Stopped by the Cumaean Canal today. Cladery saw someone that she could operate on, and I lured him back to the ship in the guise of offering passage to the surface. Reminded me of my work back in London. Not to boast, but I was quite watchful and persuasive. As soon as he saw the operating table, he knew he'd been tricked. Luckily he didn't try to run. I had Mog at the ready, just in case. Tatti wanted to watch the operation and I saw no harm in it. I stayed along with the sea-eyed boy to watch. Cladery extracted a glowing ball from his chest. The man has joined our crew as a sailor. 

We tested out the submarine upgrade today. The crew was pretty disturbed, but the captain and Tatti were ecstatic. It was like being underwater soothed them. Tatti dreamily stared out one of the tiny windows. I could have sworn I heard him whisper, "Almost as good as the real thing." 

We killed some fish creature without a name. To test whether or not it was edible, I had the Poissonnier eat a bit. The tomb-colonist raved about it so much that I tried some myself. It tasted like cream. Like marbled honey. Like... Oh Salt, thank you for introducing me to this mystery deep-dwelling creature! No wonder submarines are illegal, the people who made it illegal probably want to keep these fish all to themselves! Within seconds the Poissonnier and I were testing and serving raw cuts of the delicious creature. Not just raw. We tried many ways of cooking it. Fried. Grilled. Baked. Sauteed. Braised. There's nothing to be done to it apart from serving it raw. When you cook it, the flavour goes away. So I turned it into an enormous plate of sashimi and let the crew attack it with their fingers. So delicious. We named the creature Beloved. We have a crate of Beloved meat now. I've set the Mog to patrolling in the kitchen. The crew mustn't get any ideas.

 

December 11, 1888

I dropped off the sorrow-spider egg crate to a cultist. It's bound for Summerset College. I hope they know what they're doing. Tatti came with me. Everywhere I go, Tatti goes with me. He's become like my shadow. He's taken to sleeping in my room. When I go to the bathroom, he waits outside. I've never had anyone care for me this much! I know the captain loves me, and I love them, but their love is shown from afar. It is cool and constant like the false-sky above me or the whispers of the sea. Tatti's love (and I've grown to love the sweet child as though he were my own) is as fierce and blinding as a false-star. So I don't mind that he follows me everywhere. If anything, it's comforting to me. I watch my sea-eyed boy stare at the waves sometimes and he trembles so with some urge I can't understand. Sometimes when this happens, the captain places a stabilizing hand on his shoulder. Other times the captain watches, dark eyes flashing nervously, from the shadows. I have the feeling that Erik wants to tell or ask me something important. I can see it in way they walk. In their eyes. In my dreams. 

I think that Erik's love (or perhaps the obsidian token they gave me) has changed something in me. A small, minute change. I'm happier than I've ever been. I don't care if something inside me has altered slightly. I would accept a greater change if it meant that I could stay with my Erik and my Tatti.


	16. The Captain's Wife

December 12, 1888

Stopped by Venderbight today and the crew found another carving of the Fingerking. It made Magician very happy and he whisked it away to study. It turns out that many people want to travel beneath the undersea. We have two passengers interested in passage to underwater locations. Tatti heard that one of them is looking for passage home (a city of humans underwater?) and is fixated on the idea. After a long talk with his father, Erik has decided that we'll drop him off first. I tried to get information from the captain on what's troubling them, but they won't say. They smiled sadly and held me close. That was all.

 

December 13, 1888

We aren't the only submarine out on the undersea! The Khanites have a bunch of Putterponies. How intriguing. Erik just wants to explore. What does the Khan want?

 

December 14, 1888

We found an underwater settlement by the Salt Lions called Wrack. They were ready to kill us or loot us, but Captain Erik grinned sweetly and spun a horrific tale for them. After that we were welcomed as heroes of a sort. We found a man who had been imprisoned by Drownies. He gave us sheet music and asked us to free his friend, also captured by Drownies. 

When Erik came to my bed tonight, it was especially pleasant. There's something being under the waves that excites them. I remember what their face looks like without the mask.

 

December 16, 1888

Another run-in with the Pirate Poet! After sinking her ship (then rescuing her) she had dinner with the captain, Tatti and I. We talked long into the night. She told us many stories about the battles she fought. Tatti asked if she ate people. Unfinished Men (Women?) don't eat though. 

 

December 17, 1888

I love this submarine! We fond Dahut, a city populated by Drownies! How exceptional! I was a bit nervous about exploring it, but Erik smiled, pulled me close and assured me it was safe. The water in the city is breathable. We swam around the gardens with fish coming up to us and bumping curiously against our toes. 

A strange thing happened when it was time to go. Erik went to collect Tatti on their own. I followed though. I'm pretty sure Erik didn't notice me because they were so focused on their son. Tatti wept and wailed when Erik told him to board the ship. "It's itchy up there! I want to stay in the waves. The water is so much nicer. Why can't we live here?," the boy said. 

Erik took their son's shoulders. "Your mother can't stay in the wet. She is a human and they are drybound. If we went to live in the deeps, she couldn't come with us. Not even with the strongest submarine." Then Captain Erik sighed, loosing a silvery stream of bubbles and let go of my sea-eyed boy. "The choice is difficult."

Tatti hugged his father. "I want to stay with you. With you and mother."

Erik sighed in relief. "I believe Hettie would like that."

Stunned, I swam back to the ship as quietly as possible, mind swirling like the waters around me. The child couldn't be mine! He was too old! Far too old. And I've never been pregnant!!! By Stone, what is going on? Do I dare find out?

 

December 18, 1888

Unsure of how to bring things up with the captain. We discovered Anthe today, an underwater city of spiraling crystal. It's one of the most beautiful things I've seen. I've seen many beautiful things so far at sea. I wouldn't want to live here, though. Those who do get turned to crystal. Creeeepy. Pretty, but creepy. Somehow, Erik snuck in to see a sick woman, Rosalina, without submitting themselves to the crystals. They had a whispered conversation with one of the Antheans in charge of sharpening people. I wonder if it has to do with the fact that Erik isn't entirely human? That much is clear to me. I've decided I don't care. I still love them and would never dream of leaving their side.

 

December 21, 1888

Arrived at Khan's Shadow today. The Haunted Doctor ran off to chat with some revolutionaries. Came back much more determined. But that's unimportant. Here's what is: I settled things with the captain. I decided on the direct approach. I went to their room and said, "Since we have a child, aren't you going to make an honest lady out of me?" They smirked and slunk towards me. Erik explained that they weren't sure whether or not I would want a child. Or to marry them.

While I'm still a bit unclear on how exactly my son (feels so nice to say it!) is so old or where he came from, I know that I love Erik and Tatti. I've never had a real family. I want them to be my family. Erik wants to craft a ring for me. Isn't that sweet?

I told Tatti he could call me mother, since that's what I am. The sweet boy cried and clung to me. I've never thought of myself as motherly, but I'm pretty sure I can do a good job. 

 

December 22, 1888

Found the Chelonate today. A massive cathedral in an enormous turtle shell. I would have loved to see the beast alive, it's corpse seems as big as London itself! Imagine that! That there is room in the undersea for such immense creatures gives me the most delightful shivers.

We also found Maybe's Mother! Now Maybe's Daughter wants to head back to London. Something about a tattoo? The one time I don't search with her and she goes ahead and finds her mother! What I wouldn't give to be a fly on that wall.

Most importantly, the people here know about the captain's father. Erik bickered with the robed priests for hours. Eventually they must have come to some sort of deal, since we're heading to Fathomking Hold next. Apparently, the Drownie-king stole something that the Chelonate wants returned. I wonder what it could be...

 

December 26, 1888

We killed a lorn-fluke today. We had to keep ducking in and out of the mists to sneak up on it. The sailors are glad its over. We couldn't get any meat from it, because it basically dissolved. Gross. We did, however, get an enormous fluke-core. That's one of the things those jerky Principles wanted. Erik also has an old job for some major head honcho at Venderbright for a fluke-core, but the captain just smirked when I asked about it and said as their wife and mother of their child, I came first. Very sweet. 

I did bring up that I wasn't exactly sure how Tatti came about. Erik got a bit sheepish and explained. Basically it's a weird sea-monster thing. They created Tatti from 'flesh, blood, bone, love and dreams.' I'm pretty sure they used my dreams. And love. I'm blushing like a loon right now. Apparently, Tatti will mature normally from now on. He looks about ten now, but really he's just a few months old. My sea-eyed boy had absorbed some knowledge from Erik and I, which explains why his knowledge is so advanced in some areas, but patchy in others. From what we can tell, he absorbed information of ships and delicately scaled feet from Erik, and a love of cooking and thick hair from me. 

Erik gave me a ring carved of stygian ivory today. I've never been so happy.


	17. Munchy and Howler

December 30, 1888

I told her not to go. I told her the Bazaar is vicious and not to be trusted. She didn't listen. Why didn't she listen? Today we lost Maybe's Daughter to the Bazaar. We have lost sailors before, but I didn't know them very well. Maybe's Daughter was special. I liked stealing things with her. To remember her, I served Maybe's Daughter's Mystery Fish to the crew.

 

January 10, 1889

Killed an albino eel today. Upon dissection, Tatti and I found some meat that I'm pretty sure would be great for smoking. If I could figure out how to smoke something aboard a ship.

Poissonnier has a portable kettle charcoal grill! We set it up in the kitchen. I marinaded the meat for a hour while Tatti robbed the Magician's fuel stores. I'm sure the captain won't mind being a little bit short on fuel. I hope. Oh, I rarely get the chance to smoke meat and this eel-flesh is just begging to be smoked. What am I supposed to do? Not smoke it? I don't think so. Tatti's back with the coal. Poissonnier is stoking the fire now. I can't wait!

Even though we opened all the windows, some smoke leaked out from under the doors. Magician was furious when he realized where we got the coal from, but I set Mog on him and he just ran from the room like his coattails had been set on fire! Ha! Anyways, we have two days worth of delicious smoked meat now. The captain is amused, but also told me to please not do this again. They'll set aside some coal and wood chips just for me when I get the urge to smoke something.

 

January 11, 1889

Landed in Polythreme today and changed one of our little statues into... an awake statue? I think it chitters sometimes. I took it on a tour of the ship. We're taking it to the Principles, so I'm trying to keep it entertained. Princess is very curious about it, that's for sure. While letting the sea-bat sniff tonight's ingredients, I also showed them to the little idol. It's so cute!

 

January 12, 1889

Gave the idol to the Principles. It seemed happy (as happy as a cave can be, anyways) but griped a bit when Erik mentioned information. It sulkily spat scintillack at us. Rude! When we gave it the fluke-core, the cave was much happier. It said that it used to be a sea-monster of some sort before it 'descended.' Are there places under the waves where not even the sea-monsters can go? The cave said that the sea-lords (Erik sniffed disdainfully at that. Is there a sea-monster hierarchy?) let themselves be eaten for some kind of Drowning Feast. I got a piece of the recipe before Erik hissed and covered my ears. I sulked at that. Didn't stop Erik from snapping at the cave a bit, though. Apparently there are some things that not even the captain's token can protect me from.

Tonight I asked Erik about how deep sea-monsters can go and if there was a hierarchy of some sort. They purred in that way that makes me kind of melty inside and, well.... Afterwards, they said that the sea-beasts that don't go into the dry are the true sea-lords. So I guess anything that doesn't surface could be called a sea-lord. The most powerful ones are the ones I'll never see because the captain doesn't plan on taking the submarine that deep.

We also caught some wolfish beasty that was stalking us while the crew was doing some exploring. Erik subdued it with Wild Words and I set Mog on it. The crew jumped on it and now it's chained up in our hold. I'm starting to think we need a cage for things like this, but the captain doesn't think that's needed. I thought it had fur at first, but they're detachable spines. I had to pluck a few off Mog and let me tell you, he did not like that. It was worse than when I have to bathe him. Ugh. It has thin, bony legs and very large ears. It's eyes are the colour of irrigo I think, because I can't remember what colour they are. I've named it Howler, because it won't shut up.

 

January 13, 1889

Visited the Empire of Hands, but couldn't find the monkey child or explore much. I wonder if we can get someone from London to help us out?

 

January 14, 1889

Under the waters near Chelonate, we found the Gant Pole and defended an old lady from a bunch of sailors. Tatti watched her carve open a whale. I think my son wants to learn the art of haruspexy from her. Fine with me. We already end up killing a surprising amount of sea-beasts. I've long since stopped writing each one down. I only mark the interesting ones now. 

We collected some rancid meat to sell back to Chelonate. The crew put up a lot of fuss even though I told them we weren't going to be eating it. Honestly! I wouldn't cook rotten meat!!! Sold it to the Chelonate as soon as possible. They ate as though it was the tastiest thing ever, but I wouldn't go near it with a ten foot pole.

Ran into a lornest-fluke. Did you know that they melt really quickly and the stain is really hard to get out of the floor?

 

January 19, 1889

Ran into a Khanite vessel and submerged ourselves. Boy, they must have been confused. We watched them sail about above us for a good ten minutes before going home. I can't stop laughing. Also found a sunken Scrimshander vessel. So cool! I'm glad Erik let me go out diving. I'm not so afraid of being underwater with them around.

 

January 20, 1889

Came across an odd giant fish stuffed into a cage of metal. I've nicknamed it Boundling. Poor thing. Who does that to a fish? We dragged the dead thing inside (after we killed it, obviously) and I sliced it open hoping for some nice tuna steaks. It does look like a giant tuna. Sort of. It smelled kind of vinegary so I had one of the crew taste it. They said it moved around in their belly. Odd, because it's not moving now. Hopefully, if I cook it a lot, it'll stop moving.

Boundling Skewers

Ingredients:  
\- a day's worth of boundling meat, cut into one inch cubes  
\- skewering sticks  
\- some vegetables, cut into one inch cubes  
\- 4 tbsp pepper  
\- 8 tbsp secret seasoning  
-  a squeeze of lemon juice

Directions:  
\- Marinade the meat in secret seasoning and pepper for two hours.   
\- Put meat and vegetables on skewering sticks and grill until fully cooked.  
\- Serve with a squeeze of lemon juice.

Notes:  
\- Boundling meat tastes kind of bland, so it needs a lot of spicing. The texture is succulent, but crunchy especially when grilled like this.   
\- Grilling it until fully cooked stops it from moving about in people's stomachs. Good to know!

 

January 25, 1889

The poor misshapen tuna-like fish aren't the only creatures that have been shoved into metal cages. Came across a shark that was all caged up too. Got some strangely dark and oily shark steaks. Mmmmm. Shark steaks. Ate some of the blander meat now. Saving the good stuff for later. I thought the crew deserved to eat some of it now since it ate one of them.

 

January 17, 1889

Back at London. Word has got around about our visit to the Empire of Hands and some Delightful Adventuress Lady has come on board. She wants passage there. She has a valise. She called me quaint. I don't like her. We got the Presbyterate Adventuress too. She's okay. Except for the fact that SHE'S AN ASSASSIN MAGNET!!! We lost 4 crew! Apparently she wants to 'die well.' What, death by assassin isn't well? At least she loves my coffee sorbet. Also bought a live creature from the Labyrinth of Tigers. I've named it Munchy since it's got over ten mouths. Set it beside Howler. The two like each other. Awwwww.

The Presbyterate Adventuress' Coffee Sorbet

Ingredients:  
\- 200 g sugar  
\- 200 ml of coffee  
\- 1/2 L water  
\- 1 egg white

Directions:  
\- Combine water and sugar in a pot. Simmer for a few minutes to make a syrup. Mix into the coffee and filter to get a smooth texture.  
\- Stir in the egg white and let chill until set.

Notes:  
\- You can only get egg whites in London, but the white of a sea egg works just as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We got really unlucky with poor Maybe's Daughter.
> 
> Substitute sad boundling fish for a firm fleshed fish (kingfish or something like that) and you too can have delicious skewered meats. The sorbet recipe is good to go too. I'll have to try it out myself because it looks tasty. Normally I prefer my measurements in cups (because I'm not a monster), but the sorbet recipe just results in odd measurements that way. Nobody wants to measure out 7/8 of a cup.


	18. Lifeberg-Flesh?

January 28, 1889

Arrived at Venderbight today and gave some bigwig tomb-colonist a fluke-core. I must not have noticed it in the hold since there are two beasties in there. I hope we're dropping them off soon. They're a bit challenging to feed and it's a pain having to serve the crew on deck. The tomb-colonist melted the fluke-core in acid, but gave us a black pearl the size of my head. I didn't know clams got that large! Or is it an oyster pearl?/p>

 

January 29, 1889

Erik sighted something, got that hunting look in their eyes and sure enough we bagged our first lifeberg! It didn't even scratch us. The crew is getting better at hunting sea-beasts. We harvested 4 days worth of turbot and 1 barrel of old limes. They've been aged. I thought only wine and cheese improved with age. I was wrong. The crew saw treasures there in the corpse, but sea-beast corpses tend to dissolve or sink quickly and the captain bade us focus on supplies. I'm so glad they did!

 

January 30, 1889

I woke up in the middle of the night to Mog attacking a sailor. Apparently he wanted more than his fair share of food. Hmp! I didn't tell anyone, since Mog had taken a chunk out of his leg and the idiot ran from the kitchen without anything. Pretty sure Erik knew anyways. Later that day, while exploring Whither we sighted a beautiful woman beckoning to us on the rocks. The captain sent the would-be thief out to investigate. Turned out it was a sea-serpent with a really elaborate lure on its tail. Must admit, I'm a bit touched and disturbed that Erik will kill someone who tries to steal from my kitchen. Or maybe it was more about wasting supplies. They really don't like it when people waste (or try to) waste supplies. From the way Erik's fingers curled about my waist when the serpent snatched up the would-be thief, I think it was a bit of both.

On the way to Codex we saw two lifebergs bumping haphazardly into each other. I can't tell if they were fighting or trying to mate. Judging by Erik's laughter, I think that was also a bit of both.

 

January 31, 1889

Butchered another lifeberg today. I think the captain is hoping for lifeberg-flesh, but I don't think that's likely considering they're basically lumps of living ice. We gave Howler and Munchy to the creepy priests at the Chapel of Lights in return for info on our Navigator's sigil. We've been directed towards Frostfound. I don't remember the priests being this creepy. Maybe my time with Erik and Tatti has sharpened my senses. Erik approved of my unwillingness to meet them.

 

February 3, 1889

Killed a tyrant moth. Nothing edible, unfortunately. Oddly enough we found some jewels? Why are there sapphires embedded in a giant moth? I will never understand sea-beasts.

 

February 8, 1889

Took the Navigator to Frostfound today. Tatti and I had tea with some of the people living there while the captain took the Navigator up the mountain. They came back with Navigator slung over their shoulder. I didn't know what to do to help, so I snuck some spiced rum away from the residents and warmed it up for the captain and Navigator when they come round. The captain, by the way, has no alcohol tolerance whatsoever. And they get really feisty when drunk. I have a couple new bite marks now, but I think I'm going to keep some booze aboard. Just for fun. 

Navigator hasn't come round. Hopefully they will soon.

 

February 10, 1889

Navigator woke up. Says he needs to go north. All the way to the Avid Horizon. Not too sure about that, but I did get him some rum. He did not appreciate it.

 

February 15, 1889

Picked up a Merciless Modiste or something like today at Palmerston. I hate her.


	19. Foundling On Deck

February 18, 1889

Another passenger has come aboard! We were in Khan's Heart and the captain took aboard this irritating investigator who asks a million questions. He has the look of a really bad investigator, that's for sure. A good one wouldn't be run out of every port. Honestly having two odd passengers like this is putting us all on edge. The Adventuress won't stop chatting about how incredible she is and all the discoveries she'll make on the Island of Hands. She keeps badmouthing all the other adventurers in the Undersea. I don't think she really knows what she's getting herself into. 

We payed an exorbitant amount of money to help the Magician get info on the person he wants revenge on. I like revenge as much as the next person, but I like money too. Erik seems less interested in money. I'm not sure they fully grasp money as something apart from 'a thing I can give to people to get stuff.' I mean, that's what money is. But still.

 

February 20, 1889

Arrived at Empire of Hands. Thank Storm for making our journey so quick. The Adventuress got off board and I'm pretty sure she was trying to insult the apes. She called them natives and immediately demanded their finest tools, workers and food. Has she actually done this before? Pretty sure she's already trying to sell her soul in exchange for these supplies and labour. Her helper, Barnabas, turned out to be an Unfinished Man! And he didn't go on a rampage or anything! He was my favourite passenger because we never saw him. He was so wonderfully quiet. Just goes to show you can never tell about a person. I always thought that all Unfinished Men are violent. It's common knowledge. Apparently that's not true. 

Erik and I tried to go see the Monkey Foundling again, but some apes were standing guard outside her hut. Wonder what they want...

We visited the Adventuress' camp. Erik wanted to start exploring the tomb, but she isn't ready yet. Maybe later. To make up for all the rowing, I nicked a small present for the Monkey Emperor. Erik was quite pleased. We presented our little treasure with a flourish to the Emperor later that day and got an audience.

 

February 21, 1889

We submerged today. I think all that time with the monkeys made Erik antsy. I don't think they were able to penetrate the court to get as much information as the admiralty was hoping for. Poor captain. The irritating Investigator asked them about their love life. I don't think they noticed that the captain is married. He better not be trying to take my creature. Erik said nothing and only smiled. The Investigator got very excited and started talking about 'predilections.' I don't think the Investigator understood what the captain meant which was probably, "I'm already married with a kid, you silly fool." Considering Erik is half sea-beast, it's amazing that they're the politer one.

 

February 23, 1889

I can swear that some food is missing. Some fruit and meat isn't where I left it. Poissonnier didn't touch it. Tatti wouldn't touch it. Informed the captain. They're very concerned (and a bit excited). It can't be rats, since Mog is an incredible ratter. Has some sea-beast gotten aboard? Tatti carries a knife on him now. I insisted.

 

February 24, 1889

Killed a Boundling today. We're good on supplies, so the captain bade us rip the metal out for repairs. What a workout! It took half our engineers all working together to strip the metal from the meat. The meat was near-useless when we were finished. 

Discovered that our little food issue was because the Monkey Foundling snuck aboard! Erik chuckled. Erik gave me this puppy-eyed look and asked (privately), "Can we keep her?" I agreed as long as she stays out of the kitchen. My kitchen. The crew adores her. Probably because she was able to nick the food without getting caught. Tatti gave her a stern lecture about it while I held her by the ear, so I don't think she'll be doing it again.

After we discovered the Foundling, I noticed a wound that Erik had been hiding. Once we were alone I took them to our room and pointed it out. They looked at me with a peculiar mix of pride and sheepishness and said they were fine. Idiot. I convinced them to stay in bed by threats and maybe a bit of shouting. Apparently, I startled them. "It would be a bad wound for a human," Erik said, "But-"

"I don't care! I don't like that you're hiding something like that from me. Now go lie down. The ship won't explode without you running around constantly."

Erik gets twitchy when they have to stay in one place too long. I had to babysit them. The wound is healing up nicely though. I think it should be okay in the morning. Erik heals pretty quickly, when they're actually resting. They said they didn't want to worry me. That's sweet, but I'm a tough girl. I can handle it.

 

February 25, 1889

Stopped by at Scrimshander. Erik wanted to go into the archives, but we lacked trading supplies. There's always later. We did pick a pilgrim on her way to the Gant Pole. She spends most of her time praying by her bunk.

 

February 26, 1889

Polythreme today. Got the clay men needed to make a serpent trap for our Tireless Mechanic. Is it bad that I don't feel bad knowing that one of them will be made into a serpent trap? Instead, I'm curious and sort of excited to see what will happen. I wonder if this is how Erik feels all the time. Maybe this feeling is why the sea-beasts cause so much trouble or why the tomb-colonists fight so much. I hold my husband and child and think it's worth it.

 

February 28, 1889

One of the clay men turned out to be unfinished and killed 3 sailors before we brought it down. We have the worst luck with clay men! We only have 6 sailors left, so we can only move at half-speed.


	20. Help The Crew Day

March 1, 1889

'Prepared' a strange catch for Erik's dinner with Nacreous. Really I just served them two plates of raw meat. Erik took off their mask for the dinner, which was enough to get Nacreous talking. I'm getting better at deciphering Rubbery speech. It's awfully burbly, which makes things difficult. When I came in to clear the plates away, I caught Nacreous saying, "I used to love-" then the Rubbery caught my eye, changed colour and went to bed. I wonder if it was blushing. Erik hissed at the Rubbery's retreating back a bit. They told me that Nacreous was abandoned in Port Cecil for Rubbery crimes and the Principles took it in. It's not like the captain to just tell me what they learn about their officers during these dinners. Usually I have to find out for myself. Kind of ruins the challenge when they just tell me what happened.

 

March 5, 1889

While pulling into London, I saw a merchant-ship vanish under the waves. How many submarines are really out there? This is getting crazy!

 

March 6, 1889

Stopped by at Hunter's Keep. Erik took me along with the Mechanic to the cellar. We had to tell the sisters an awful lot of stories first. The Tireless Mechanic gushed a bit over the pool (some magic river or something that has to do with dreams) and drew a symbol on the clay man we brought with us. Once the Mechanic fell asleep, the Clay Man thrashed furiously with the mirrorcatch box, but Erik stilled it with a Wild Word. Now we have a box full of very angry dream-snakes. The crew is terrified. I don't think anyone is sleeping tonight.

It turns out that our Mechanic is just as much of a thief as Maybe's Daughter was! He stole a secret from the Fingerkings. Can you imagine? Gives me the shivers to think of it. He wants to build some engine with the secret and Erik is awfully interested. I'm not sure if they actually want the engine or just want to irritate the Fingerkings.

Apparently, today is 'help the crew day.' The Genial Magician had some stuff to do in the Forgotten Quarter in London. Since I've been there (what? I don't write down everything, you know) and the captain Strongly Disapproves of taking addictive/mind altering substances I got to help the Genial Magician myself. It involved eating a lot of prisoner's honey. We went through several barrels under Erik's scowling observation. We got lost a lot. Kept forgetting what we were doing. Eventually, we found the right way through dreams. The Magician is closer to getting his revenge. His enemy is near the edge of Parabola in the Mirror-Marches.

After the dreaming, he made a wooden statue of some sort that he'd baited somehow. If everything goes well, his enemy will go into the statue and be trapped there. Of course, it could also go into the Magician. I hope not. I've gotten used to the Magician's irritating presence. I don't think the creature that may possess his body will threaten to magic my supplies into fuel in quite the same way. Magician made Erik promise that if his body is possessed they'll chuck it into the sea. But there's a lot that wouldn't kill. We need to get some scintillack first.

 

March 7, 1889

Dropped the box of dream-snakes off at the bigwig tomb-colonist. He was very pleased. No clue why. We got a nice mask out of it that should sell for a lot, though. On our way back to the ship, some mad tomb-colonist started screaming about how she wouldn't submit to the emergence or something like that. Then she beheaded herself. We stepped over her body, but kept her head.

 

March 9, 1889

I'm very confused. And angry. Poissonnier is frustrated with the progress he's making on his masterpiece. I stepped into the hold today to find that he had Nacreous cornered. The tomb-colonist gestured with a cleaver, "Now, now. You'll grow it back." 

I stormed in. "You're not cooking Nacreous!"

Poissonnier sniffed. "You're not a very generous soul." I pushed him out of the hold.

I was left with Nacreous and approached the Rubbery. Nacreous thanked me with some burbles and engulfed my hand in a mass of his face tentacles. Gross.

 

March 11, 1889

Arrived at Avid Horizon today. The wind blows through the whole ship. Straight through it. The wind blows through the metal, clothes and skin. Captain Erik poked around the ice a bit and extracted an eye. They smiled and put it in a jar. Cladery is having a bad effect on them, but she was quite impressed. The crew is terrified because they kept looking at the reflected lights in the water. They swear that they're actual stars. They could be. It could also be fear talking.

 

March 15, 1889

Got zzoup from Port Palmerston. Think we're taking it back to Fallen London for that creepy collector guy.

 

March 18, 1889

The captain had a whim today. A WHIM. We were exploring the icy waters near Frostfound, when the captain bade us dive. For a moment our submarine hung in the waters above an abyss. The navigator broke into a sweat, but the captain stared at him until he took us down. After a minute or so, the navigator stopped. Erik stared at him again. It felt like the whole crew was in there with us. Certainly there were more people than strictly needed. The navigator swore violently, but took us down more. I was one of the few to look out the porthole (The other sailor who did reeled away shrieking and curled up in a ball on the floor. Baby.) I saw a church of some sort and a bunch of statues carrying coffins on their shoulders. This is why I came to the sea. To see things that I could never dream of in Fallen London.

The captain held my hand and peered out the glass with me. Whatever they saw satisfied them and they gave the order to take us back up. We went up a lot faster than we went down.

 

March 22, 1889

Bad luck today. A sailor went mad while we were battling a lorn-fluke and killed some men. I wish the captain would see sense and shoot mad sailors on sight instead of getting all fascinated and trying to capture them alive.

 

March 24, 1889

Submerged to go the Gant Pole today and ran into a lornest-fluke. It did some damage before we went into port. Hopefully our next stop will be London. Captain Erik went exploring and came back a few hours later with an egg of some sort. I imagine we'll be giving it to the tomb-colonist bigwig in Venderbight. No one else would want it. Even the captain finds it distasteful, or at least boring.

While they explored, I discovered a spies report. And not the captain's. I searched everywhere, but I couldn't find them. Shoot.


	21. Limping Towards London

March 25, 1889

Lost another sailor today while pulling into Khan's Shadow. One of those stupid Khanite warships attacked us, and the captain was furious. We sunk it. I don't think the Khanite will be very happy with us. We got some souls from it though. Why were a bunch of souls on a Khanite warship?

 

March 27, 1889

The captain and I were on a walk in the Khanite's Copper Quarter tonight and saw a man who fell off a wall. He was obviously a terrible burglar. I've never fallen off any wall when doing a job. Anyways, I helped him up and the poor man started babbling about how I must have recognized him or something. Erik says he must have been a spy, since he paid us some echoes and then said we were friends of the leopard. 

More importantly, we managed to lure two sailors aboard! They think we're empress-gobblers or something like that and are awfully rude, but they're also starving. Not to boast, but they smelt what I was cooking and agreed to sign up.

 

March 30, 1889

Arrived at Wrack today. Provided some prisoner's honey to some addled priest who thrashed for a bit before vanishing into dreams. He dropped some tether (that amazing type of seaweed that only grows in Wrack. I'm not to touch it.) Erik was quite pleased. I don't keep track of everything the captain plans (their mind is so busy!), but they certainly have plans for it.

 

March 31, 1889

Arrived back in London. It was shaping up to be a lovely evening until we got an unexpected visitor. Mr. Sacks. I told Erik not to. I told them. Now Mr. Sacks is on our ship. I don't know what to do. I'm so scared. He'll kill us all. Our first delivery is to Khan's Heart. We could take it to Pigmote Isle, but I begged the captain to take it to the Khanite's instead. I know that our package is a rotten, gnawed lamb bone, but I don't want anything bad to happen to the rats on Pigmote because of us. Erik soothed me. I don't know how, but they're not afraid of Mr. Sacks. That's okay, because I can be scared for us both. I've locked Tatti in my room. He pounds on the door, but I don't care. He's safe there. The crew is working faster than I've ever seen them. Anything to speed this up. I'm amazed nobody has jumped overboard.

Salt, Stone and Storm help me! I'll have to make dinner for Mr. Sacks. I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT HE EATS OR IF HE EATS AT ALL. I DON'T KNOW WHO IS GOING AROUND RECOMMENDING OUR SHIP TO CREATURES LIKE MR. SACKS, BUT I'LL FIND THEM, KILL THEM AND FEED THEM TO MY HUSBAND AND CHILD.

 

April 2, 1889

Apparently the Masters eat what people eat. He has a fondness for the bugs that occasionally find their way into the hardtack, but that's the only unusual thing I've found. Huh. What do you know? The crew won't eat down here, and Tatti is still locked up (Erik is amused by this and shakes their head fondly at me), but Mr. Sacks sits alone at the table and eats his dinner. I should mention that Poissonnier has momentarily shaken himself out of his months long cooking obsession to help me with the meals. Not every day you get to cook for a Master! The tomb-colonist is like a giddy, but occasionally wary, child now.

 

April 5, 1889

Delivered the lamb to Khan's Heart as Mr. Sacks wanted. The people feasted on the red meat for hours. They ate everything. We watched. We left when the White-and-Golds waded in with clubs to beat them away. I feel safe now. I let Tatti out of my room. If Mr. Sacks wanted to hurt us, we would already be dead. I made Tatti swear to Lady Black that he wouldn't bother the Master or try to look under his robes. My sea-eyed boy is far too curious sometimes and some things shouldn't be meddled with. I sound like my aunt. Gross.

Our next delivery for Mr. Sacks is a jeweled bird to give to either the Widow or Cheery Man. We've already done some business with the Cheery Man, so we're going off to Mutton Island to give it to his men. Or at least we would, if it wasn't deserted. To the Isle of Cats, I guess.

 

April 9, 1889

An Eastern Angler Crab! I don't think I've cooked one of these before! The meat is less salty than the other varieties. The only salty part is a jelly where the organs should be. No organs on this specimen, just the jelly. Tatti and I pried a cask of mushroom wine out of it. Did it swallow this whole? It must have. Barrels of wine don't just grow inside crabs. I hope the wine hasn't been damaged. Erik won't let me crack it open to see. Buzzkill.

 

April 10, 1889

Defeated the Pirate-Poet again! She didn't know about Mr. Sacks, thank Salt. I recognized the ship's movements (amazing how she steers it!) and started on the dinner several hours in advance. I was able to make Erik's favourite dessert to celebrate another meeting with the Pirate-Poet.

Captain Erik's Lemon Sorbet

Ingredients:  
- 2 lb lemons, peeled and then juiced  
\- 1/2 lb sugar  
\- 2 cups water

Directions:  
\- Put sugar, water and lemon peel in saucepan and simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off heat and let syrup cool completely.  
\- Add lemon juice to pan and stir. Strain the mixture.  
\- Let chill in freezer for 3 hours. Stir every 15 minutes or so.

Notes:  
\- The captain really does have a sweet tooth. They love meat and sweets. I should make candied fish sometime! They would love that.  
\- The Pirate-Poet was amused at my sorbet, but I don't care. It's just so tasty.

We also arrived at Isle of Cats today and delivered the jeweled bird to an idiot who snapped the head off for himself. He's going to regret that when the Widow finds out. We got a firkin of red honey in return. Yikes!

Our next delivery is a lock of blond hair and polished teeth to Avid Horizon.

I noticed several more firkins of red honey in our hold and gave the captain a pointed look. They grinned a bit sheepishly. I don't care as long as I'm there for the selling. We agreed that we'd finish our business with the Master before anything else.

 

April 11, 1889

A man named Jervaise is on our ship. He had words about our business with the Master. He's in the brig right now. The captain and I have agreed that we'd rather complete our job for Mr. Sacks.

 

April 13, 1889

Stopped by at the Funging Station and got a beastie! I've named it Chub because of the skin folds that ooze black liquid onto the deck.

 

April 15, 1889

We arrived at Avid Horizon and I gave my blood to create a snow child with Mr. Sacks. The Master was displeased and vanished, but we took the snow-child aboard. His name is Boreas. There are now three children aboard this ship. The Monkey Foundling, Tatti and Boreas. Tatti and Boreas have taken a liking to each other and are inseparable. Adorable. We're taking Boreas back to London. Hopefully, we can find his mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am genuinely surprised at how often sorbet comes up in Sunless Sea. Sorbet would probably be easier to make on a ship, since milk wouldn't last that long on a sea-voyage. Kudos to whoever wrote the various food descriptions. Even mentions of a specific food like shredded jillyfish or a particular sorbet do so much to create a living world for me.


	22. The Melting Child

April 17, 1889

Dropped off a hunter's eye at the bigwig tomb-colonist in return for a beautiful tusk and tiara. Surprisingly enough, we only got a skull for the star-shell. I'm pretty disappointed. I think a mysterious egg should be worth more than some stupid eyeball, but Erik is giddy. They're chuckling about all they learned when watching the tomb-colonist handle the star-shell. I went for a walk and found a cannibal chapel of some sort. I'm positive of this. Creepy.

 

April 18, 1889

Brought Boreas back to London. He's all mopy because he just realized that he'll melt. Maybe we can take him to the Iron republic and get that changed?

Mr. Sacks left us a lovely present at home. The Masters aren't so scary after all. Erik, Tatti and I made an aquarium for Chub. We've grown fond of the sea-beast. He's awfully friendly, if a bit peckish now and then. It'll be good for Tatti to have a pet.

We saw the Magician off to the Forgotten Quarter. He emerged eleven hours later bloody and bruised, but victorious. I'll admit, I was scared we would lose him like we did Maybe's Daughter. Not that I'll ever tell him that. He's vain enough. He trapped the serpent in a wooden figurine and wants to put it into an engine. Lesson learned: Don't fuck with the Magician. Erik is awfully intrigued.  They like the idea of having another beastie about, I think. A serpent-king isn't really a sea-beast, but they're monstrous enough that Erik likes them. We'll have to keep the Magician's trapped serpent-king a secret from the crew, but I don't mind that much. 

We went out tonight when Tatti was asleep to see the finished Serpentine. I can glimpse flickers of the creature in the flames. Magician smiled and said, "He can look all he likes. He can rage all he wants. His hunger will drive us across the sea." Jeez. I wonder what would have happened if Magician had lost more than a hand. Erik is delighted. They throw scraps of meat into the flames when they think I'm not looking. I'm pretty sure Magician was exaggerating when he said the creatures rage would power the engines, because it still needs fuel. Is the fuel to keep the fire-trap going? I'm not sure. I never want to run out of fuel, just in case.

 

April 20, 1889

The devils can help us stop Boreas from melting, but they will only trade the information for scintillack. Figures. Off to Port Cecil, I suppose? Boreas pops in and out of the freezer throughout the day. He sleeps in the freezer at night. Or at least, he curls into a ball and sits there.

 

April 24, 1889

Arrived at Gaider's Mourn. I made an exceptional trade! One measly drowning-pearl for two solacefruit. The seller is trying to marry some rich Khanite lady. What an idiot! He should be in Khan wooing her, not collecting a hoard.

 

April 27, 1889

Killed a bound-shark today. Even with Tatti's help, we couldn't salvage much of the metal. A shame, because some parts of our hull are a bit patchy. What meat wasn't stained with oil I fed to Princess and Chub.

We collected two bits of scintillack and Port Cecil, but it isn't enough. We'll have to stay here a bit. The Principles were excited at first to see us (I'd forgotten all about them) but pouted once it realized we didn't have any heartmetal for it. What a sulky cave. Sheesh. It's a cave, it's not like it can't wait.

 

April 28, 1889

Killed another bound-shark! The dissection went well and I learned a bit more about them. Extra organs. And some dolt tried giving them rudimentary bones by stuffing them full of iron rods. I delivered the scrap to the engineers. Magician and Mechanic scowled when they saw it and bonded over how useless the metal is. Apparently it's all corroded or something. I don't know, I'm a cook not an engineer.

We gathered more scintillack though. Should be enough for those greedy devils. Tatti had fun collecting it with me. He says the sea spoke to him. Maybe it did. 

 

April 30, 1889

Arrived at the Uttershroom. It may be a bunch of fungus, but I don't think I'll be gathering any of it for supplies. There are mushroom animal hybrids running around here and I'm worried the Uttershroom will bleed if I cut it. Princess had a lot of fun exploring. I tried to get our blemmigan to go out and enjoy itself a bit, but the poor thing just hid under a pile of laundry. Was it bullied by the other mushrooms? The people here are secretive and reclusive. They don't trust the sea because of the monsters. Fair enough. I mean, that's pretty hard to argue with. We delivered a jar of wrack for a huge amount of echoes. Score!

 

May 5, 1889

The Magician and Mechanic came into the kitchen today. At first I thought they were angling for a drink. My mistake. Mechanic chatted with me a bit while the Magician sneakily searched some of my supplies. He completely ruined some barley and bottled ham until Mog sank his teeth into the man's leg. Mechanic yelped and fled and the Magician and I fought a bit (a cleaver versus that hook). The bastard vanished in a shower of sparks with some foodstuffs clutched under his arm. Well played Magician, well played.

When we arrived at Iron republic, the devils whispered something into Boreas' ear that made him horrified. They gave us a longbox with instructions to extract some heartmetal to make it stick. While we were here, I personally oversaw the sailors loading our hold with fuel. The Mechanic was awfully scared of Mog. Ha!


	23. Sailing Snow

May 6, 1889

A patient Triskelegant was following us, but the captain bade us harpoon it. Boy, was it surprised! We beat it with clubs until it stopped moving and chained up the beast in our hold. We broke off some lovely stygian ivory as well. Maybe I'll make a comb out of a piece.

 

May 7, 1889

We killed a Neither today. Two sailors went out to retrieve the melting corpse. I heard their screams long after they dissolved. We carefully scooped up the flotsam with nets. If only we had bigger nets, those sailors might have lived. On the other hand, the scintillack really is beautiful. We used the same nets to scoop up some bioluminescent shrimp. Yum.

Shining Shrimp

Ingredients:  
\- 2 lbs shrimp, peeled and deveined  
\- 12 tbsp butter  
\- 2 tsp secret seasoning  
\- 10 garlic cloves, minced  
\- 4 tbsp lemon juice  
\- 1 cup fish stock

Directions:  
\- Cook shrimp with 4 tbsp butter and half of secret seasoning for 5 minutes. Set aside.  
\- Cook garlic until brown. Add stock and simmer until you have about 1/2 cup of liquid. This should take about 5-10 minutes.  
\- Add lemon juice and remaining butter and seasoning. Cook for 2 minutes so butter melts and flavours meld.  
\- Pour sauce over shrimp and serve on rice.

Notes:  
\- The shrimp keep shining after they're dead. Makes a very pretty dish.

 

May 11, 1889

Arrived at Station III today and got a heartmetal ingot for Boreas. Boreas is complete now. His eyes shine like crystal and he doesn't leave a trail of water behind him. He wants us to drop him off at Irem. He plans on going east. I hope he'll be okay. May salt take him as far as the horizon.

We also visited the sisters at Abbey Rock and gave them one of our hunting trophies. They invited the captain, Tatti and I over for dinner. The cavern-trout was overcooked, but their laverbread was pretty good. They said they could help the Adventuress die gloriously for some romantic literature. They claim that it'll help them attract a terrible beast, but I think they just want some romance stories.

The Muscular Prioress' Black Laverbread

Ingredients:  
\- 600 g fresh laver seaweed, cleaned thoroughly  
\- 3 tbsp oil  
\- 2 tsp lemon juice  
\- 1 tsp secret seasoning  
\- 200 g steel-cut oats  
\- 50 g pine nuts, toasted

Directions:  
\- Simmer seaweed for 6 hours until it is a dark pulp. Stir occasionally.  
\- Strain seaweed and combine with lemon juice, oats, seasoning and pine nuts. Form into little cakes.  
\- Heat oil in pan. Fry the cakes until golden brown on both sides.

Notes:  
\- I'll be honest, I tweaked their recipe. I added in the oats and pine nuts. It tastes fine without the pine nuts, but they add so much flavour!  
\- This recipe is so versatile. Only do the first steps, but add in a squeeze of lemon juice and some seasoning and you can spread it on bread or use it as a sauce. I like it best in little fried cakes, though.  
\- More honesty: the sisters are terrible at cooking. I kept the recipe name, but it shouldn't be black. It should be a beautiful dark green colour. I don't know how they blackened it, but it's very concerning. Are these women eating enough?

 

May 17, 1889

Dissected a Western Angler Crab. The blue blood pooled luminescent on the operating table. I examined the curious mark on its belly, but I have no idea what it means. Tatti kept a vial of glowing blood. Cladery is a bad influence on him.

 

May 19, 1889

While underwater today, some pods near the submarine burst into viric radiance. Our hold turned to chaos. All the vegetables started growing leafy, frondular growths. Nacreous, Carnelian Exile, Cladery, Poissonnier and the Magician helped me sort through the mess. We had to nail a lot of crates back together because they split open. Even my pickled, bottled and canned vegetables started growing. And it wasn't a slow growth. It was a growth fast enough to splinter glass. After the first bottle shattered I spent a lot of time ripping open jars before they could break and piling the vegetables into a corner. I say vegetables, but the fruit was affected too.

By the end of the day, I had a pile of leafy fronds as tall as I am. The crew ate that for dinner. They enjoyed it. Jerks. I spent all day organizing the mess it created. Our hold is finally organized again. I'm exhausted.

I thought the trouble was over. Nope. We caught a boundling and needed the metal to repair our hull and the broken crates. The whole crew stayed up late ripping the metal apart. Fed the meat scraps to Chub and Princess. I'm never going to get the grease out from under my nails.

 

May 20, 1889

Captain Erik had dinner with the Merciless Modiste. I served zzoup and a delicious tart.

The Merciless Modiste's Solacefruit Tart

Ingredients:  
\- 1 and 1/4 cup flour  
\- 1 stick butter, cut into small pieces  
\- 3 tbsp ice water  
\- 1/2 tsp lemon zest  
\- juice of 1 lemon  
\- 3/4 cup sugar  
\- 2 cups baked jillyfish  
\- 3 cups sliced solaceberries  
\- 1/4 cup apricot preserves, melted

Directions:  
\- Put flour in a medium bowl and cut in the butter until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add water, lemon zest and juice. Stir until it holds together, flatten the dough, wrap it and let chill for 30 minutes.  
\- Press dough into a 9" tart pan with a removable bottom. Freeze for 20 minutes. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Prick the bottom of the tart shell, line it with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Crust should be starting to brown. Remove foil and let bake for 10 minutes until crust is golden brown. Remove from oven.  
\- Spread baked jillyfish in the tart crust and top with solaceberries. Drizzle the melted apricot over it and serve with a solaceberry garnish.

Notes:  
\- This really was a hit with the Modiste! She said she wanted to dress me in jillyfish venom and the dream dyes of Parabola. I think that means she likes me. She's not half bad. She licked her cutlery clean, you know.  
\- I didn't serve the whole tart, because that would kill them. Instead I cut them each a slice and stored the rest in the fridge in a locked box.

 

May 21, 1889

Erik went into Frostfound today to help our Mechanic. They came back looking very shaken, but holding a stone pig in the palm of their hand. Apparently, our Mechanic stole a secret from the dreams of stone pigs. I didn't know there were such creatures.

 

May 24, 1889

Arrived at Irem today and bid the snow child farewell. Boreas whispered his goodbyes. The whole crew saw him off. I gave him some of my knives and a few supplies no one will miss. Tatti clutched my skirts and wept. We watched until his boat was a speck on the horizon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All three of these recipes can actually be made if you're willing to substitute custard for jillyfish and regular fruit for solacefruit for other things! Laverbread is an actual thing. It's a Welsh delicacy, if you must know. I hesitated about keeping 3 cups of sliced fruit in the tart recipe (since solacefruit is deadly in large doses), but I think the Modiste would approve of a tart that can kill you.


	24. The Problems With Determination

May 27, 1889

Arrived at the Gant Pole to see a triskelegant lying wounded on its shores. Tatti watched the haruspex make a prophecy and a path from the entrails. 

 

May 31, 1889

Defeated a wreckship while underwater. We thought it was a shipwreck at first and learned that you really shouldn't confuse the two. When we sent the boarding party off they came back with bloody cutlasses and treasures. Apparently the pirates liked to play dead just like their ship. How about that? I wonder where they learned that trick.

 

June 2, 1889

Had wine with the Austere Acolyte at Station III. She smiled and told us how if you swallow one of the black balls they extract from corpses it makes you impervious to grief. Apparently nothing else is as awful as what you learn by doing that. Doesn't sound like something I'd want to do. She asked us to help her with the autopsy of her sister. Once she had pried out the heartmetal, I put on her goggles (she didn't want to look directly at it) and saw that the creature was not her sister. It was a creature born out of desire for a sister. I think that means more than any real sister could, so I told her the truth. She didn't seem as happy about it.

I spoke with her long into the night. We traded stories and secrets. I think she was so talkative because we knew we'd never see each other again. She left Station III to follow another path, but before she left she pressed a missing chapter of the crimson book into my hands. The Masters of the Bazaar will want this. Such a valuable gift she's given us. I wish her the best of luck. 

 

June 4, 1889

We miscalculated. London is in sight, but we're out of food and nearly out of fuel. The crew is mutinous and angry. The captain threatened them. They are quiet for now. Poissonnier rendered one of our strange catches edible, but the crew are still scowling.

Arrived at London that evening. We had to pay some sailors to tow us in.

Left London. Erik found the Determined Doctor snooping in their quarters for documents. The captain bared their teeth and had the Doctor escorted to the brig. He went with his head held high. I don't understand. How could he do this? Was he really the one behind the missing documents? After speaking with him, the captain shrugged and let him return to work. The Doctor seemed disappointed. Was he hoping to become a martyr?

 

June 9, 1889

Success! We've finally gotten the Khanite to trust us enough to let us into their Nephyrite Quarter. I spent an hour just wandering the stalls with Tatti gathering supplies. Erik followed, hands in their pockets and a sardonic smile on their face. We picked up the romantic literature we've been trying to get for months now. For sale, of course. I'd rather listen to sea shanties or read a cookbook.

 

June 11, 1889

My debt to the Principles of Coral is wiped clean. Sort of. We delivered the heartmetal today. Erik watched, scowling nervously, as the Principles manifested an Emissary for me to play chess with. but than a terribly embarrassing thing happened. We realized that we didn't have any room in the hold for the treasures we would get as a reward. Sheepishly, I excused myself to go to the bathroom and we ran back to the ship, giggling the whole way. Back to London!


	25. Terrors Of The Sea

June 20, 1889

We're back at Port Cecil. I stood poised above the chessboard. This game was easy. The Emissary whimpered and melted like dirty water. The caves shuddered around us. I can hardly describe what happened. Scintillack rained down on us, great chunks of it coming loose from the ceiling and shattering at our feet. Erik pulled me into an alcove and did their best to shelter me with their own body. Thank Stone they weren't hurt. I'm still not sure if the caves shook because The Principals were dying like they wanted or because of the hideous, ancient knowledge The Principles whispered with its last breaths. The words seared in my brain. I could only write this comfortably after the captain and I wrote out each one of them in one of their notebooks. We filled half of it. When the shuddering had stopped, one of the chesspieces stood at my feet. It looked vigilant. Smart. I don't fully understand how, but I understand that I'm its new master now. I will place it on my bedside table and feed it the blood of sea-bats. 

Our hold is full of scintillack now. It took all day to cart it over. We're heading to the Iron Republic next. The Merciless Modiste wants to make me an outfit! How kind of her. I think we just got off on the wrong foot. Normally I dislike fancy types, I used to nick their pockets all the time, but she's not so bad. We're hoping to catch the House of Pleasures so we can sell the scintillack at a good price and buy parabola linen for a great price. Erik and Modiste have already picked out some stygian ivory. As long as they're not going to try squeezing me into a corset. I need to able to move and run to do my work properly!

 

June 22, 1889

I did it. I'm not sure why. But I did. We stopped at Nuncio today, and I was doing some work in the Dead Letters Office for some reason. I wanted to see what was in the basement. I set up a bunch of mirrors and went downstairs. There were sigils. I can't write this. The words aren't coming. How can I explain the crushing command? How can I? I can only praise the postmen of Nuncio for their work. They are noble, all of them.

 

June 27, 1889

We stayed for a whole two days in the Iron Republic waiting for the right House to open. It was going well until the crew and I stumbled into some awful crypt of some sort. I herded the gibbering sailors back to the ship, They're nearly crazed! We've got to get them back to London. Even I'm horribly frightened. And I have the captain's token to help me.

 

June 28, 1889

Today I saw a sailor be lifted off the boat by a tentacle. But afterwards, the water was perfectly still. Did I imagine it? Surely I didn't push her. Surely. Erik found me in my confused state. They stroked my hair with clawed hands until I stopped trembling. "I would never push someone aboard," I told them. They smiled softly and held me close.

 

June 30, 1889

Arrived at London. It feels so good to be on dry land.


	26. The Lucky Surfacer

July 2, 1889

We've arrived at Abbey Rock. We handed over the racy literature. The Presbyterate Adventuress is so excited. She's practically bouncing. The nuns say that we'll start at 7am tomorrow morning. Sevens are important. I'm glad they're taking this seriously! They say there'll be a fire and music. It sounds awfully cheery for a ritual that summons a vicious beast. I hope they're not playing with us. I've heard of people doing sillier things to get romantic literature.

Adventuress was very talkative today. Usually she just stands there frowning. The Captain and I got her to talk about her homeland. What amazing stories! I've never heard their like. Maybe one day I'll visit the Elder Continent.

 

July 3, 1889

Today the Presbyterate Adventuress died a true death. I watched. Erik and Tatti watched with me. They intended to leave, but I wouldn't move. They gave each other an amused look (how alike they are at times!), shrugged and stood beside me. The smoke from the burned books wafted upwards. "I once swore," the Adventuress said, "to kill nothing that flies. I hope I break that oath." 

A piece detached from the ceiling and fell towards us, screeching words I cannot bear to relate here. I am not even sure I understood them. The Adventuress fired her pistol. I leapt forward to help her, but my husband and child pulled me back. They're unusually strong. I have bruises, but I can't blame them. The night reared above the Adventuress. It struck once and she fell. But as it dove away, it listed to the side. One of its wings dragged on the ground. I'm pretty sure she wounded it! 

I took the Adventuress' pistol to remember her by. I don't think I'll ever use it. Blood has stained it black. It won't stop smoking. I don't mind, though. I'm glad she died happy. Not every death is a happy one.

 

July 7, 1889

Erik planted an agent in the Carnelian Coast today. I hope they know what they're doing! Spycraft is best left to players of The Great Game. My husband is a sailor! what do they think they're doing? 

The Merciless Modiste locked herself away in her cabin with a few unlucky volunteers. Cladery was very upset about it and wanted to leave her behind. The Captain forbade it, and when the Modiste was done I found out why. My husband had a set of protective armour commissioned for me! Isn't that sweet? They helped me into it and purred that since I always got into trouble this would help sooth their nerves the next time I inevitably tried to get myself killed again. 

It's beautiful. It's made of parabola linen and stygian-ivory. It looks great on me and it's light so I can wear it freely. I'll wear it as often as I can.

 

July 10, 1889

Arrived at Fathomking Hold today. Tried to get an audience with the Drownie King, but we weren't allowed in because we didn't have a proper sea-story for them. We did get a white mollyflower, which Cladery dissected immediately. She has no idea how it works and is in a terrible mood because of it.

 

July 11, 1889

I hate Nook. While underwater, we came across this horrible sea monster that had been wedged in the ground or something. It's enormous maw was held open by heartmetal beams wider than our ship! The Captain got this horrible glint in their eye, and bade us dock as close as possible. A settlement had been made on the monsters lips. Erik and Tatti stripped and swam off to investigate. Stone must have protected them. At least they brought back some supplies and fuel to appease the trembling crew. All day I've had to deal with sailors muttering things like, "It's not right," and "Storm guide us." I smacked that one upside the head. What kind of fool prays to Storm for guidance?

 

July 16, 1889

Arrived back in London. Picked up 2 new crew. The Brisk Campaigner and a sailor. The sailor was my pick. You see, I was strolling through the Docks and I saw this bedraggled young man searching for a ship to join. "I'm Edward," he'd say. Edward! A name! Not a use-name! So I took him to the nearest pub to chat a bit. At first I thought that he'd lost his use-name just like I did, but it turns out that he's just from the Surface. 

He used to be a captain, but he was just the worst at it. Apparently, he ran it as if it were a Surface ship. Idiot. He's only been down here a year, though. And he spent most of that time holed up in the University. He's pale as one of us, but it's obvious to anyone with eyes that he's a Surfacer. Apparently he's not a player of the Great Game, though. He's a philosopher who hopes to write a detailed volume of knowledge on the Undersea. Calls it "Song of the Sea." What a silly idea! That would take years to finish! Got some strange ideas, that one, but he's nice enough. And it's nice knowing someone else who doesn't have a use-name. I pretend not to see some of the sailors make nervous gestures to the sea-gods when I pass. I've grown used to it. That's what I get for playing the Marvelous. 

There are some things you can't do without a use-name, but some things you can only do if you don't have one. In this case, befriend silly Surfacers. I asked Erik very nicely if he could be one of our new sailors. Erik looked Edward over and sighed. Normally the captain doesn't take Surfacers aboard. They tend to be jittery and nervous, like our Determined Doctor. Well, he's settled a bit since his first death, but I'm pretty sure that Edward hasn't had his first death yet. Erik rolled their eyes and said, "No."

Then I made Edward tell the Captain the story of how he'd lost his ship. Apparently, he set out in a lifeboat after they ran out of fuel and supplies. Somehow, he made his way back to London! How incredible is that? 

Erik tilted their head at that. "That is very lucky," they murmured. They stared at the waters a bit. "He'll need a use-name," they said.

I admit, I took offense at that and yelled for a bit.

After I was done shouting, Erik pulled me close and said, "You lost your use-name in the Marvelous, Hettie. This man is only being stubborn." They gave Edward a cold look. "No passage without a use-name."

I gave Edward a use-name. The Lucky Surfacer. He's one of us now. Or as close as he can get without having his first death.


End file.
